Untold Story
by Psycho Weasel
Summary: Did you know that Tai and Matt actually knew each other when they were little? Tai didn't either and that bothers Matt. This is their untold story of when they were little. Chibi Taito story.
1. Prologue

_**NOTE:** School (life) starts in about a week for me...I'm going to use the rest of the time I have to work on this story and "A Broken Paradise" like crazy...hopefully if I have time... DX_

_So, this is the next big project I have decided to work on. It was inspired by a song that a student wrote a couple of years ago and I liked it so much that I decided to write a story based off of it._

_This story isn't dark or as angsty as my other stories...at least, once you get pass the prologue. ^_^ Hmm...I'm a bit out of loss of words. :D I hope that you will all enjoy this new story that I have decided to work on.  
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_**WARNING:** This story will have it's sad moments, but it also has quite a bit of happy fluff moments too. :) This is a Taito so that means BoyXBoy.  
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_**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Digimon...I wish I did...but I don't. TT_TT_

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><p><strong>Prologue. And They Lived Happily Never After<strong>

A cool summer breeze blew gently across the abandoned Heighton View Terrace Park. The sun was slowly creeping towards the west and the sky was starting to give off a peachy orange glow. A blonde teenage boy sat alone on a swing and slowly rocked himself back and forth. He absent mindedly stroked the small item that he held in his hand with his thumb, remembering the one who gave it to him so long ago.

"Hey Matt!" Matt snapped out of his trance and looked up. A tan skinned brunette was running over to him. The blonde quickly shoved the item in his pocket and started to pump his legs faster. The other boy finally reached the swings and tried to catch his breath. "Phew, took me a while to find you."

"Sorry Tai," Matt sighed. "I just needed some time to think." Tai plopped himself down on the swing next to Matt's.

"Not too happy about hearing that Mimi and Joe are getting married?" the brunette asked, also starting to pump his legs.

"No, no," Matt shook his head. "I mean…I think they're probably still too young…but they're good for each other."

"Yeah, they're one of those couples that just work, you know what I mean?" They swung in silence for a moment. "Do you think Sora and I could work?" Matt flinched at the suggestion, but the other boy didn't catch it.

"I don't know Tai," Matt muttered. "I haven't really thought about it…Do you think you'd work?"

"I don't know," Tai sighed. "I mean, a lot of people think we look good together, and I _have _thought about us being together like that…I mean, we have known each other since we were little…but I'm still not sure." Matt desperately wanted to ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Do you think we could work?" Matt asked quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing." Matt ignored Tai's curious stare and focused on trying to get his feet to go above the jungle gym. He felt such a bliss swinging on the swings. It reminded him of being a little kid again…and he desperately hoped that that feeling would stay.

"Look Matt! We're married!" Matt snapped his head over to Tai and saw that they were both swinging in unison, at the same speed and the same height. "Remember when we were little and whenever two people were swinging at the same time, like us, they'd say that they were married?" The blonde blushed and quickly tried to stop his swing. "Aw, now we got a divorce." Matt gripped the chain tighter; hoping the hole in his heart would leave soon. Tai stopped himself from swinging like his friend did. They sat in silence.

"Isn't if funny how we all used to live here?" Tai brought up. "You know, all eight of us, and we didn't even know it?" Matt nodded and Tai continued on. "I remember always coming to this park in particular. I'd come down here and play soccer, or play on the jungle gym…" Tai paused and soon a smile crept on his face. "I even got married here once."

"Really?" Matt asked, completely interested and hopeful. Maybe he _did_ remember then. Maybe he would soon figure everything out.

"Yeah," Tai chuckled. "It's a shame that I can't remember the girl though." Matt's hopes came crashing down immediately. "People tend to remember that sort of information so well, and I can't remember at all."

"I guess some people have a better memory than others," Matt shrugged and moved his attention to the wood chips beneath their feet.

"I guess so," Tai laughed. "It makes me feel like an idiot sometimes."

_'You __**ARE **__an idiot!' _Matt screamed in his head. _'A big air-head who can't even remember—'_

"There was a little boy here too," Tai muttered. Matt looked up at him again. Tai was staring at a one particular spot of the play area. "We used to play quite a bit here…I think he was like…my best friend…that is, until we moved away."

"…He must have missed you like crazy when you left," Matt said.

"Yeah…" Tai sighed sadly. He looked over at his friend and smiled. "You know, it's kind of funny…Whenever I look at you…you kind of remind me of him."

"…Why is that?" Matt asked, trying not to get hopeful again.

"I remember that he had these big blue eyes…kind of like yours." They stared at each other.

_'Come on Tai,' _Matt begged in his mind. _'I know it's there. Please…just remember—'_

"Then again, it could just be me having a false memory or something," Tai grinned at his friend. "My mom says I tend to do that a lot."

"False…memory?" Matt murmured. The brunette nodded. Matt shut his eyes tightly and buried his face in his hands.

"Do you have a head ache Matt?" Tai asked.

"Don't talk to me right now," Matt growled.

"Hey, I'm only trying to see if you're ok." Matt looked up at Tai and glared viciously at him.

"Well, how would you feel if you had to deal with an idiot day in and day out!" Tai blinked at him in surprise and then narrowed his eyes.

"That's a little uncalled for, don't you think?" Tai growled. Matt opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Tai's face softened as he looked at his friend. "Something has been bothering you since Mimi and Joe announced their engagement…" Matt drew circles on the ground with his foot. "Whatever is on your mind, just tell me. I won't judge you or anything." Matt looked up at Tai.

"Really?" Matt asked quietly. "You…want me to say what's on my mind?"

"Of course," Tai grinned. "That's what best friends are for." The blonde sighed and dropped his gaze to his feet. Tai was never going to get it…so why try anymore?

"I decided that I'm leaving," Matt said. "Tonight." He could tell that Tai was shocked.

"W-What?" the brunette gasped. "You mean…you're actually going to England to study?" Matt nodded. "But…what about the college here? They offered you a good scholarship! Why would you risk going all the way to some foreign country just to have the possibility of them not even accepting you to their school?"

"Because it's the risk that's the exciting part," Matt said. "Taking the risk…finding new options." Matt half smiled at the thought of leaving all of his problems here. For good.

"Wh…What about your Dad or T.K.?" Tai tried to argue.

"Dad is almost always gone now since he's been promoted and T.K. is growing up and doesn't need me as much. We can still keep in contact with email and stuff, but—"

"Did I do something?" the brunette spat out. Matt looked up and saw desperation and hurt on his friend's face. "I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you, Matt. Honest, I didn't. It's like you said, you have to deal with an idiot sometimes." Tai moved his swing closer to his friend. "Just tell me what I did so I can change!" The blonde shook his head. "What do you mean no? I can change Matt! I promise I can! I—"

"Why are you getting so worked up over me leaving?" Matt shot at him. Tai opened his mouth, then closed it. He thought about the question carefully.

"You're…my best friend," he repeated, though this time, he didn't sound so sure. _'Maybe he does remember…No…don't be stupid.' _Matt swallowed the lump in his throat and turned away from his friend. The sun had started to lower towards the west and the two friends sat in silence, listening to the crickets starting to chirp.

"…Before the divorce happened," Matt said quietly. "My mom would read me fairy tales stories every night before we went to sleep. You know, like Cinderella or Rapunzel, or The Twelve Dancing Princesses. They were really weird stories, but they all had one thing in common. _'And they all lived happily ever after…'_

"When I was little, I honestly thought that…I too could have a 'happily ever after.' I always thought that I could be like, Aladdin, who found a magic lamp and got his three wishes granted, or like Robin Hood, who was a great big hero to the poor people." Matt chuckled at himself. "We tend to think about stupid things when we're little."

"Believing in fairy tales when you're little isn't stupid," Tai said. "I always believed that someday I'd find a princess, share our true love's kiss, then sweep her off her feet and carry her off to our happily ever after." Tai smiled. "I still believe that my princess is out there somewhere." Matt released the swing's chain, realizing that his grip was so tight around them that his hands were screaming in pain. The blonde stared at the wood chips on the ground.

"There's not…" Matt muttered.

"There's not what?" Matt suddenly stood up and then kicked the wood chips in frustration. Tai jumped in surprise to his friend's sudden hostility.

"There's no princess out there waiting for you Tai!" Matt shouted at his friend. "There's no princess! No magical fairies to grant your wishes! No true love's kiss! And no such thing as happily ever after!" Matt glared at the playground in front of him, kicked the ground once again, then started pacing back and forth slightly. Tai simply stared. Finally, the blonde stopped and looked back at his friend. He looked so confused and hurt…it killed Matt to see him like that.

"I'm sorry Tai," he whispered. "It's just that…my whole life…I'd been hoping, and wishing for something amazing to happen in my life. I kept waiting for my own happily ever after…" Matt dropped his gaze when he heard his voice becoming shaky. "But I guess what they say is true…the key to happiness is to not wish for impossible things…like…" Matt bit his bottom lip.

"Matt," Tai whispered. "You're…crying…" Matt's eyes widened and he immediately brushed the tear away. Tai stood and wrapped his arms around the blonde. Matt held Tai tightly and wished one last time for Tai to remember, so that Matt could once again believe in having his own happy ending…but he knew it was in vain. Matt pulled away and looked up at Tai. He still looked very confused, but also very concerned. Matt smiled slightly and dug into his pocket for the small item he had.

"Someone special gave this to me," he explained. "They promised me that as long as I held on to it, they'd always remember me and…love me…" Matt gently placed the item in the tan boy's opened hand and then made him close it. The two boys looked at each other. Suddenly, Matt felt a burning hope and confidence in his chest.

Matt lifted his face towards Tai's and softly pressed his lips against the other boy's. He felt Tai slightly tense up, but Matt was too lost in his own bliss to really care. It felt like just how he had imagined…how he remembered…The blonde pulled away and looked at Tai. Now he looked _really_ confused. Matt frowned and held Tai's closed hand with both of his own. Tai continued staring, very stunned at what had happened as Matt then kissed Tai on the forehead.

"I love you…Tai," Matt whispered. Then, the blonde turned and ran away from the very confused brunette. Tai watched as his friend disappeared from view and he slowly sat back down on the swing.

He couldn't believe what just happened. Matt just _kissed _him! His own best friend kissed him! On the lips! Matt…was gay? Matt was gay all this time and he never bothered to tell him? Why didn't he? They were best friends!

_'That's not true,' _a little child's voice popped into his mind. _'You obviously feel more than that.' _Suddenly, the little boy with blue eyes popped into Tai's memory. He still couldn't remember his face…but he did remember those big blue eyes…those eyes that quickly reminded him of Matt…and how he kissed him.

Thinking about the kiss made Tai's heart flip with excitement. Did he enjoy the kiss? Maybe he did…a little more than he should have…But Matt was a boy! He couldn't feel this way for him, not all the sudden either. Unless…there has always been something between them…more than friendship. And if there was…why didn't anyone tell him? Why didn't Matt tell him? What could have caused his friend to keep this major detail from him all of these years?

_'Matt was right,' _the child's voice sighed again. _'You are an idiot.'_

_**'Excuse me, but who are you?'**_

_'I'm you!'_

_**'What?'**_

_'Come on Tai…you couldn't have forgotten me too.'_

_**'I did not forget—wait. Did I forget something…someone else?' **_ Blue eyes popped in his mind again.

_'You forgot him,' _the child said sadly. _'And I promised him I wouldn't ever forget him…You broke that promise! You're an idiot!'_

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?" Tai shouted in the air. A few birds that were perched on a nearby tree chirped with fear and then flew off. The child's voice no longer echoed out and Tai rubbed his face in confusion and frustration. Then, he looked down at his closed hand and opened it. He stared at the small item.

"Tai?" The brunette didn't look up at Sora as she quickly rushed over and joined Tai's side. "Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you. Did you find Matt?" Tai nodded. "Where is he then?"

"He's…gone…" Tai murmured.

"He died?" Sora's eyes widened.

"No! He did not die!" Tai scoffed. "He…just decided to go to England after all…"

"Oh..." Was all Sora could say about that. They were quiet for a moment, then Sora sat in the swing next to Tai. "What's that you've got there?"

"I…don't know," Tai muttered. He held up the item higher. "I feel like I've seen this before though…like in some dream or something…"

"That's kind of spooky," Sora chuckled.

"Matt gave me before he…um…"

"Before he what?"

"…ran away."

"You were going to say something else." Tai didn't pay attention to the comment. "Did he kiss you?"

"W-What?"

"He did, didn't he?"

"No, of course not! What would even give you that idea? What a ridiculous thing to say!" Sora eyed him suspiciously and Tai could feel his face heat up.

"Tai, I'm your friend. I won't judge you." Tai looked away from his red-headed friend.

"Is that all we are Sora?" Tai asked. "Are we just friends?"

"…I think so Tai," she replied. "I mean…I do kind of like you…but I know that you don't feel the same." The brunette looked at her, suddenly realizing how true her words were.

"I guess you're right," Tai said quietly. They swung for a little while.

"Did you like the kiss?" Sora asked. Tai stared at her for a moment, then looked down at the wood chips.

"…Yeah," he said quietly. "I think I did…" Sora smiled and nodded. "I don't understand," Tai finally admitted. "One minute, he's all quiet. The next, he's ranting and raving about not believing in fairy tale endings. And then the next, he's kissing me and giving me this thing. It's like…I'm missing something that he has and I'm just not getting it. It's really frustrating and confusing." Tai kicked the wood chips from underneath his feet and glared down at them. Sora watched him for a moment.

"I…I know why he's acting weird Tai," she said quietly. Tai looked up at her. "He told me…everything."

"You know?" Tai gasped. Sora nodded. "Well, please tell me then! Because I honestly have no clue what's going on right now."

"Well…" Sora started. "First off, I want you to know that Matt made me swear that I wouldn't tell anyone about what I'm about to tell you. So don't get mad, ok?"

"Ok," Tai promised.

"Good," Sora smiled. "Now I'm going to tell you a fairy tale story."

"What? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just shut up and listen you fool." Tai obeyed and shut his mouth. Sora sighed and continued. "Once upon a time, in a nearby kingdom, there lived two boys. The first boy was a handsome young prince. He had golden yellow hair that could easily put the sun's rays to shame and eyes that were as deep and as blue as the great ocean itself—"

"Matt?" Tai asked. Sora nodded, slightly annoyed that she was interrupted.

"The prince was a quiet boy, and he was very lonely. What he longed most of all was to have a friend of his very own. Not too far from the castle, there lived another boy who was training to someday become a great knight. He was brave and bold. He had wild brown hair and daring brown eyes that always sparked with mischief—"

"That's me," Tai grinned. "But I still don't get it—"

"Stop interrupting me!"

"Sorry."

"As I was saying: These two boys lived in the same kingdom and both wanted nothing more than to have a friend. One day, they finally got their wish by meeting one another. They became fast friends and were basically inseparable." Sora paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. "In any ordinary fairy tale Tai, the knight would find a beautiful princess, fall in love and live happily ever after. But this story isn't like that. In fact, this story is almost the complete opposite. This is the untold story…of Sir Tai and Prince Matt…"

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><p><em>Don't you love it when your inner child starts talking to you...and calls you an idiot? X3<br>_

_Ok...so I know that this probably didn't make that much sense...but it will all come together in the end. I'm actually pretty excited to work on this now...I have a few ideas up my sleeve for this. :)_

_So what do you think? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Do you want some more? I appreciate any sort of comments or constructive criticism_. _Flames however will be used for marshmallow roasting._


	2. 1: Finding a Friend Among the Worms

_**NOTE:** Update time! :D So I wrote this chapter a while ago and saved it. When I went back to look at it again I realized something...it's REALLY short! D: I think it might be one of the shortest things I had ever written! :( But I don't want to try and make it longer because I think it fits well with how I want to go with the story...Well, I hope you enjoy it.  
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_**WARNINGS:** Read the prologue.  
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_**DISCLAIMER:** Read the prologue._

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1. Finding a Friend Among the Worms<span>**

Matt Ishida sat alone on the swing sets and watched the other children around him. They all had their own little playmates to romp around with. Matt, on the other hand, had no friends his own age. Sure, he had his younger brother T.K., but his mother rarely let the younger blonde out of her sight, due to some odd over protectiveness she had with him. The blonde sighed and started to swing by himself.

_"Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. Guess I'll go eat worms,"_ he sang quietly to himself as he swung higher and higher. He wasn't _quite_ sure what it meant, but he liked the tune and the part about the worms. He then sighed and muttered to no one, "I wish I had a friend to play with…Just like the two people in Mommy's storybook."

"Hey! Mattie!" Matt stopped swinging and looked to his left. He saw a group of older boys, about the age of eight or so, coming up to him. The blonde frowned at the three boys he knew all too well. "What 'cha doing on our swings?"

"Sorry Bobby," Matt apologized to the leader as the swing started losing momentum. "It was empty so…I thought it would be ok…" The shorter of the three in the group ran behind Matt's swing and pushed him off. The blonde yelped as he went flying through the air for a mere moment and crashed on the ground. The older boys laughed. "Hey! That hurt!"

"Aw, lighten up Mattie," Bobby snickered. "We're just having some fun." Matt looked down at his scrapped knee. It stung terribly and he could see a bit of blood seeping out. Matt started to stand but Bobby pushed him down again.

"Hey!" Mat yipped as he fell on his rump again. The older boys laughed harder. The small blonde started to tear up with a mixture of embarrassment and pain. "You guys are mean!"

"Is the little baby gonna cry now?" the third, and fatter, boy jeered. Then the three started to chant, "Cry baby! Cry baby!"

"Leave me alone!" Matt shouted. As the tears fell down his face, he wished more than anything that he had a friend…

"HEY!" Bobby turned and was rewarded with a soccer ball to the face. The boy yelped and fell down. Immediately after, the four boys looked up to see where it had come from.

A little boy with tan skin and wild bushy brown hair stood not too far from them. His dark caramel eyes glared at the older boys. Matt slightly blushed at the sight of the other boy. He reminded him of a dashing knight in his mother's book…only this boy was real. The boy ran over to the group and retrieved his ball. He glared at Bobby.

"Leave him alone you bully," the soccer boy growled. Bobby glared at the smaller boy, and stood to show how much taller he was compared to him. The smaller boy didn't back down. Bobby scoffed, kicked some dirt at Matt, then ran off with his two accomplices.

The new boy was about to run after them, but remembered the boy who had caused him to come over in the first place. He squatted down next to the blonde. Matt was wiping away the tears that had fallen. The other boy watched the blonde for a moment then he gently touched the scrapped knee. Matt yelped and pulled it away.

"I'm sorry!" The darker boy gasped. Matt sniffled as the other boy gently placed his hand on the injury again. "Did they hurt you really bad?"

"A little," Matt sniffed.

"Where is your mom?"

"At home."

"She's not with you?" Matt shook his head and pointed to the apartment complex just behind the park.

"That's where I live," Matt said. "Mommy is always with T.K., so I just come here by myself a lot of the times."

"Hey! That's where I live!" the other boy said excitedly. He pointed to the same area Matt had done, but a little higher and to the left some more. "Only I think I'm more that way." The boy held out his hand, to which Matt accepted, and helped him up. "My name is Tai. What is yours?"

"Matt," the blonde replied.

"Nice to meet you Matt!" The two stood silent for a moment. Tai blushed and dropped his gaze slightly. "Um…I just moved in and…well, I don't have any friends yet. So…" He looked back up at the blonde. "Do you wanna be my friend?" Matt blinked in surprise. A friend?

"Y-Yeah!" Matt replied happily. Tai grinned and gave the other boy a hug.

"Yay!" Tai cheered. "I have a friend and his name is Matt!" Matt grinned also. "Want to go play on the slide, friend?" Matt nodded and ran after his new found friend.

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><p><em>I know...it's short...but I couldn't really find a way to make it longer. Well, I'd like to hear what you all think about it. :) No flames please.<em>


	3. 2: A Fallen Knight

_**NOTE:**__ Ugh...I'm not feeling so good. :P Something's funny in the tummy. :(_

_Well anyways...This is a new update for the little chibi story. I wanted to update before I started school tomorrow (BARF! (...poor choice of words... -.- )). Wow, this story is so cute and fluffy...it's completely polar opposite from my other stories! XD_**  
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_**WARNING:** Read Prologue.**  
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_**DISCLAIMER:** Read Prologue._

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><p><strong>Chapter 2. A Fallen Knight<strong>

The friendship that Tai and Matt shared could be considered as unique. The fact that the two boys were able to connect so well and so quickly was truly rare. They'd play with one another as often as they could, which usually was every day. That is, until summer ended. The two boys went to different elementary schools, but even then, they never missed a play date with one another. Often times, they would find a way to contact one another and decide on a day to play after school…_after_ they finished their homework of course.

For some reason however, Tai had suddenly lost contact with Matt. It had only been a week or so since they had last seen one another, but to Matt, it felt like a thousand years. The young blonde was of course sad about this, but he thought that maybe it could be that Tai was busy (That was what his mother told him anyways). One day, Matt became very restless and decided to go to the park and see if he could find his friend.

"Mommy?" Matt called out to his mother. "Is it ok if I go to the park?"

"Have you finished your homework?" she called back. Matt looked at his nearly finished coloring project. All he needed to do was figure out what 1/8 + 3/8 added up to and then color in the spaces with the correct answer.

"Yes," he lied, and then quietly added to himself, "Almost."

"Alright, don't stay out too long," she finally said. Matt grinned happily, put on his shoes and raced out side.

Matt inhaled the crisp, clean air before heading off to the playground. The sun was mildly shining due to a few looming clouds that threatened to bring rain soon. Upon arriving to the park, the blonde was slightly disappointed to see that no one was there, not even Tai. He sighed and then trotted over to the swings. He stood on the seat and started to rock himself back and forth. He had picked up great speed when suddenly, he heard something very odd.

It sounded like some sort of animal whimper. It was soft, but still audible over the slight squeaking of the swing. Matt stopped himself and tried to pin-point where the sound was coming from. He finally noticed that it was coming from the tunnel that connected the two main jungle gyms. Matt hopped of the swing and went over to the latter of one of the jungle gyms to start climbing up. He jumped down a ledge and started crawling through the large lengthy tunnel. Half way through, he found the source of the noise.

Tai was sitting in the middle of the tunnel, with his face buried in his knees. At first, Matt thought he was sleeping, but then he heard a few miserable sniffles come from the darker boy. The blonde frowned and crawled closer to him. He gently poked his friend, who immediately lifted his face up. His eyes were red and wet.

"M-Matt!" he gasped and tried to rub the tears away. "What are you doing here?"

"I was playing on the swings," Matt said to his friend. "Then I heard something here and decided to follow it." Tai nodded and continued to wipe away his tears. "Tai, what's wrong? Why are you sad?" Tai bit his bottom lip and whimpered slightly. Seeing his friend like this was starting to make Matt very sad.

"M-my sister almost d-died," Tai sniffled. "And i-it was b-because of m-me!" Matt watched as fresh new tears started falling down his friend's face. The young blonde tried to understand what he meant…but he had never heard that word before.

"What does 'die' mean?" Matt asked.

"L-like…when someone is g-gone fore-ever," Tai explained through tears. "I-I wanted t-to play soccer w-with K-Kari and b-because of th-that, she almost l-left us forever!"

"That's terrible," Matt gasped.

"D-do you know w-what the w-worst part is?" the brunette whimpered. Matt shook his head. "W-when s-she came b-b-back home today…" Tai's bottom lip started trembling terribly. "She told me that she was sorry she couldn't kick the ball and that I probably never want to play with her again!" The brunette started crying even harder than before after his outburst. "It's not true though! I _do _want to play with her again! I always want to play with Kari! I didn't mean to hurt her! If I had known she was that sick…" Tai buried his face in his knees again and cried.

Matt only could sit and listen as his friend cried and cried. This was so much information to take in and he wasn't very sure how to handle all of it. Matt was starting to feel very, very sad watching Tai cry like this. He had been so brave the first day they met. Now he was very sad and looked very lonely. Like how Matt was before Tai became his friend. The blonde wanted to be brave like his friend was that day, so he put a hand over his hand to try and make him feel better. The other boy took his friend's hand and squeezed it.

"Tai," Matt said quietly. "Please don't cry…You're making me sad."

"I'm s-s-sorry M-Matt," Tai sniffed and tried to rub his tears away. "I'm just really sad." Matt tried to think of what to do to make Tai feel better. Then he remembered something he saw his father do once.

"Tai?" the blonde muttered.

"Y-yeah?" Matt looked down for a moment, slightly nervous since he had never actually done this to anyone else. But finally, he leaned forward and gave the darker boy a small peck on the cheek. Tai stopped crying and looked at his friend, slightly surprised.

"What was…t-that for?" Tai asked.

"I saw my dad do it once," Matt blushed. "My mommy was really sad and so he just kissed her on the cheek and she wasn't sad anymore." Tai stared at his friend a little longer then touched his cheek. "Did that help?" Tai opened his mouth and then closed it. Matt blushed even harder and looked down. "Sorry…I'll leave now."

Matt started crawling away, slightly discouraged at not having his idea work out right. He thought that it would have made Tai feel better…but maybe it only worked with grown-ups. The young blonde still felt very sad, but it seemed more because he couldn't help Tai. Matt crawled out of the tunnel and then slid down the slide. He made his way over to the swings, not ready to go home yet, and was about to sit down on the seat.

"Matt?" The blonde looked up to see Tai crawling out of the tunnel and sliding down the slide. He raced over to his friend and gave him a big hug. "Thanks Matt. It did make me feel a lot better." Matt smiled happily and hugged his friend back.

"I'm glad that it worked," Matt sighed. "I thought it only worked for grown-ups."

"Nah, not really," Tai smiled. He then frowned slightly and looked down at the ground. "I still feel a little sad about Kari…but not as much though…"

"It's ok Tai," the blonde said. "She's your sister…I get it. I mean…I have a little brother, so I know how you can feel sometimes."

"You do?" Tai asked, looking up. Matt nodded. "Hey, maybe the next time we come and play, we should bring them to play with one another."

"I like that idea!" Matt said excitedly. Then he remembered something. "But…that'd have to be a time when Kari wasn't so sick anymore…and when Mommy lets T.K. come out and play."

"Oh…right." Tai was starting to feel sad again, Matt could tell. So the blonde leaned forward again and kissed him again. This time however, his aim made him kiss the corner of Tai's mouth. Matt felt his heart get really happy and excited at that moment. He looked at his friend, who once again touched his cheek and blushed.

"What are you two doing near our swings again?" The two boys jumped and turned to look at Bobby and his followers, who were making their way over to the swing sets.

"Get lost you bully!" Tai shouted and stood in front of Matt. "These aren't just yours!"

"They are too!" Bobby growled as he soon came face to face with the bold brunette.

"I don't see your name on it!" Bobby finally got fed up with the little boy and pushed him down. Tai sprang up and shoved the older boy. The two started fighting with one another.

"Stop it Bobby!" Matt cried as he tried to help his friend. His little fists slammed against the older boy, who was now on top of Tai. "Leave him alone!" Bobby's two followers grabbed hold of Matt and wrestled him away. The fight was three against two. There was no way they could have made it…

"HEY YOU BIG MEANIES!" The five boys looked up to the new voice. What they saw in front of them shocked all of them. This new comer was so unsuspecting and so different than they were, that they almost took them for granted. This person was the one who completely changed Tai and Matt's relationships, and lives, forever.

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><p><em>Hmm...not exactly the ending I was going for, but it's still pretty close. :) I should go to bed...maybe then my stomach will be feeling better...bleah...<em>

_Oh, forgot to mention something: I'm not 100% sure what age Tai and Matt are. I'm thinking maybe about 6 or 7, making T.K. and Kari 3 or 4. Just so you know.  
><em>

_Reviews are to Psycho Weasel, as Matt is to Tai...er...Please review! ^_^;_


	4. 3: Enter the Queen of Hearts

_NOTE: Fanfiction is being stupid on me...*is super pissed*_

_I found out that college takes up a lot of my free time. So because of that, and because I was damn curious, I decided to make a Twitter account. I'll probably post when chapters will be up or ideas I have, etc. I've heard a couple of authors who do that and so I wanted to give it a shot._

_Anyways...enjoy!  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 3. Enter the Queen of Hearts<strong>

The five boys stared curiously at the intruder of the fight: a girl. She looked about the same age Matt and Tai were, and wore a light blue dress with black rain boots. In her eyes you could see great spirit and ferocity shining brightly from her. Her small hands were placed firmly on their hips and her eyebrows furrowed, completely disapproved. The three older boys watched as the younger child walked up to them and glared.

"I order you to leave those boys alone!" she growled like an irritated Chihuahua.

"Who made you the boss of us?" the shorter boy from Bobby's group asked.

"I am the queen of this play ground," she stated matter of factly. Bobby looked at his friends and laughed at the girl. "How dare you laugh at your queen?"

"You're not a queen!" the third boy jeered at her. "You're just a dorky little girl!"

"Yeah! Go play with your dollies or something," Bobby giggled.

"Leave her alone you guys!" Matt said to them. Bobby looked at Matt.

"Shut up pip-squeak," he scoffed and flicked him on the nose.

"You're a big bully!" Tai shouted and tried to attack the leader. Bobby extended his arm so that Tai couldn't get any closer. "Come on! Fight like a man you wimp!" The little girl gave the two boys an odd look then looked up at Bobby.

"If you don't leave them alone," she growled. "I'll scream." That caught the boys attention.

"You wouldn't," Bobby glared.

"I am the queen, I can do what I want!" the girl smirked.

"You're not a queen," Bobby rolled his eyes. "You're just a little girl who can't do anything." At that, the intruder looked at each boy, took a deep breath and-

All of the boys covered their ears to the high pitch scream that came out of her. Bobby and his posse quickly left the scene while Tai and Matt stayed and covered their ears the best they could. Matt opened one eye to look at Tai who looked like he was in just as much pain as he was. Finally, a nearby jogger came over to the group of children.

"Little girl!" she panted as she gently shook the screaming girl. She stopped screaming and looked around, then up at the jogging lady. "Are you ok? Did these boys hurt you?" The girl looked at the two boys.

"No," she smiled sweetly. "Sorry, I saw a big bug and it scared me! I'm sorry to have bothered you." The jogger nodded, eyed the two boys one last time, then took off again. The girl watched her leave and then turned to the two boys. "And that's what you get if you don't listen to the queen!"

"Thanks so much for getting rid of those bullies!" Tai grinned.

"Yeah," Matt nodded. "Thanks!"

"It was nothing," she smiled. "What are your names?"

"I'm Matt," the blonde smiled, then pointed to his friend. "And this is my best friend Tai."

"My name is Mimi," Mimi said as she curtsied. "But when I'm on this playground, I am known as 'Queen Mimi.'"

"Wow, I've never been around a queen before," Matt smiled in awe. Mimi smiled and straightened herself up as to bask in the attention. She looked almost like the queens he'd see in his story books!

"Well, thanks again Tee-tee," Tai said as he took his friend's hand and started leading him away.

"It's Mimi!" she huffed. "Where are you going?"

"We need to go now." Matt was about to question where they were going, but he was soon distracted by a grumpy face Tai had on.

"Wait, don't leave me alone!" Mimi gasped and followed the boys.

"We need to go home."

"I wanted to play with you guys."

"It's just me and Matt as friends! We don't need you in our group."

"Fine!" Mimi huffed and folded her arms. "I _was _going to make you guys my honicarry members of my kingdom, but I guess I'll just find someone else." The two boys stopped.

"What's a honicarry member?" Matt asked. Mimi smiled.

"Since I am Queen of this playground," she explained. "I get to choose who is good enough to join me as my helpers to rule with me. You two are very good and so I decided to let you guys be with me. See? You'd be honicarry members!" The two boys looked at each other.

"What would we be as honicarry members?" Tai asked, still not convinced.

"Well…" Mimi thought for a moment. "You were really brave Tai…so I think you'd be…the knight in shining armor!"

"That sounds great!" Matt smiled and looked at his friend. Tai blinked in surprise and then looked down bashfully.

"And with you Matt," she continued. "All queens and kings have a hair to their throne."

"Don't we all have hair though?" Tai asked touching his own wild mane.

"These hairs are different," Mimi shook her head. "They are the ones who start ruling when something happens to the king or queen…like if they get sick." She looked back at the blonde. "So Matt, I think I'll make you my prince so then you can be the hair to the kingdom!" Matt smiled at the title. "So, how does that sound you guys?" Then more sincerely, she added, "Would you guys let me play with you if I let you guys become honicarry members?"

"We'd play with you even if you didn't make us honicarry members," Matt spoke for the both of them. Tai shot him a slightly displeased look. Mimi grinned widely and then hugged both of the boys.

"Thanks!" she chirped. Then she ran off, picked up a random stick near a tree, and raced back. More serious, she continued saying, "Now, please get on one knee." The boys did as they were told.

"As queen of this playground," she said in her most queen like voice. "I hereby make you a honicarry member of my kingdom. From now on, you Matt will be known as: 'Prince Matt of the playground.'" Mimi tapped Matt with the stick on his left shoulder first and then right as she spoke his name. Matt looked at his friend and smiled. Tai looked very happy for him.

"And to you Tai," Mimi continued and turned to Tai. "I hereby make you a honicarry member too. From now on, you will be known as: 'Sir Tai the brave, knight of the round playground.'"

"But the playground isn't round," Tai spoke.

"Who's the queen here? You or me?"

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, you are now 'Sir Tai the brave.'" Mimi tapped the stick the same way she had done earlier with Matt. She paused, then tapped him a little harder on the head with the stick. "That was for questioning your queen!" Tai put on a grumpy face and rubbed his head. Matt silently giggled at what had just happened. "Sir Tai and Prince Matt, you may now stand." They did so. "From now on, we shall be known as members of the…the…" Mimi turned to her new honicarry members. "What should the name of our kingdom be?" They all thought for a moment.

"How about the kingdom of purple monkeys?" Tai suggested.

"Not purple monkeys," Matt shook his head. "Monkeys scare me."

"What about the kingdom of pink?" Mimi asked. The two boys gave her a funny look. They all thought for a moment.

"Maybe we can think of something later," Matt sighed.

"Ok," Mimi agreed. "For now, we shall be the rulers of the kingdom!" The three children stood tall, being the official court of…whatever their kingdom's name was. Tai and Matt stole a glance at each other. The blonde felt his heart get really happy when Tai smiled at him. Suddenly, Mimi let out a surprised squeak. "I felt something wet on me!" Matt looked up and was rewarded with a small water droplet on his face. Soon, more and more water started falling from the sky.

"It's raining!" Tai gasped. Matt watched as the two quickly ran under the jungle gym for protection of the rain. The blonde looked up at the rain and smiled. Matt looked at the closest puddle he could see, ran over and splashed in it.

"Sir Tai!" Mimi called out. Matt looked over at his two friends. "An evil water monster has taken the prince prisoner!"

"Help!" Prince Matt played along. Sir Tai perked up to his friend's "cries for help" and he quickly charged out of the shelter of the jungle gym. He jumped into the puddle and created a large splash.

"Take that you bad monster!" the brunette growled as he jumped again. Matt giggled and started creating splashes with his friend. Soon they were both drenched. Tai smiled at his friend, then looked to the queen. "Come on Queen Mimi! The monster is dead now and you can come out!"

"No way!" she shouted at them. "I'll get my hair and dress wet! You two find me an umbrella or something." The brunette folded his arms over his chest.

"What if we don't come back?" Tai grinned mischievously. Mimi stood quietly for a moment, then quickly ran out from under the jungle gym.

"I'm getting so wet!" she laughed as she quickly ran to her friends. She jumped into a nearby puddle and splashed the two boys. The three ran around in the rain, splashing and imagining themselves as the titles they were given. After deciding they had killed off all the bad monsters, they stood in a small circle.

"We should play again tomorrow," Matt said.

"Yes we should," Mimi nodded, then shivered. "I'm getting cold, so I'm going home. Good-bye Tai! Good-bye Matt!" The two boys waved to the cheerful girl, who helped them out earlier, and then started off to go to their own homes. They chatted excitedly about their adventures until finally, they ended up in front of Matt's door.

"I guess you have to go now," Tai frowned. Matt frowned too. He didn't want Tai to leave…he wished Tai could be with him longer.

"Do you want to stay for a while?" Matt suggested his thoughts. The brunette was quiet for a moment, thinking about the offer.

"I think my mom and dad will be worried about me," he sighed. Matt felt sad and nodded. Tai smiled and hugged his friend. The blonde hugged back and he felt really funny inside. He liked hugging Tai. As Tai pulled back, Matt felt something soft and wet press against his cheek. Matt blushed as he soon realized, from Tai's proud smile, that he had just been kissed on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow Matt!" Matt waved numbly as Tai started off to his own home. The blonde stared a while longer, then walked into the apartment.

"Matt!" his mother gasped as he walked through the door. "Why are you so wet?" Matt explained how when he went to play, he found Tai and Mimi and how they started playing in the rain. He decided to leave out the part of the bullies…he didn't want her to worry. His mother made him get out of his clothes and into his P.J.'s. She wrapped him in a blanket and told him how if he played in the rain how sick he could get. Matt had a bit of a hard time staying focused however.

The young blonde didn't understand…but something told him that Tai was something more to him than just a friend. Matt loved being around him. He always made him feel happy and safe. Not only that, but his heart would get happy too. The blonde smiled and snuggled down into the blanket. He let out a happy sigh.

"Matt we're you listening to me?" his mother asked. Matt looked up at her and blinked. She sighed and then returned to the kitchen. Matt shrugged and went back to thinking about the boy who made him feel so strange…and yet so happy as well.

* * *

><p><em>Aw, so cute. ^_^ If anyone has a suggestion for the name of their Kingdom, please let me know. I was going to call it "Kingdom Hearts" and then I was like: "Ha ha! No..."<br>_

_One more small personal note...I love drawing Taito pictures and want to share them. However, I don't want to use DA and I don't know any other site on line. If anyone knows a good art site that is similar to deviant art/DA, please let me know. :)_

_So what do you think? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Wonder how the hell Mimi is going to be affecting them so much? Flames are no bueno and will be used for marshmallow roasts._

_Until next time!_


	5. 4: A Challenge Worse than Dragon Slaying

_**NOTE:** Whew! This took me a while to write, but I must say that I'm rather pleased with it. ^_^ Well, for the most part. XD_

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><p><strong>Chapter 4. A Challenge Worse than Dragon Slaying<strong>

Two weeks had passed since Tai and Matt became "honicarry" members of the kingdom, and Queen Mimi was not pleased at the moment. She had been waiting for her two new friends for a zillion hours now and they had not shown up yet. This wasn't exactly the first time they had done something like this to her. They'd promise to show up somewhere at this time to play…and then they'd always turn up later than they said. It annoyed Mimi…but at least they'd always show up. Mimi sighed and slid down the slide by herself and started her search for the two boys. She immediately found T.K. and Kari, their younger siblings, playing in the sand box area. She hopped over there on one foot and joined the younger ones.

"Hi T.K. and Kari!" she chirped. "Have you seen them?"

"Who?" Kari asked.

"I mean your brothers, Matt and Tai," she explained. "They said they'd be here after school and it's been like…a gazillion hours after school now and they're not here."

"Mommy told me Tai had to stay after school for a little bit," Kari said.

"And Matt had to finish his homework before he could come out and play, but Mommy said he'd be out soon," T.K. added. Mimi placed her index finger and thumb on her chin and started to pace thoughtfully. "What are you doing Mimi?"

"This is what my daddy does when he's trying to think," she explained to the two younger ones. "Have you seen that they've been acting funny?" The two nodded.

"Yeah," Kari pouted. "Tai is acting really funny. He has this funny smile on his face after he comes from playing with Matt. It takes him a while to know that me or Mommy or Daddy were talking to him. One time Daddy asked him what was he thinking about all the time and Tai just smiled funny and didn't say anything!"

"That's nothing!" T.K. spoke. "Matt sometimes doesn't really notice me sometimes, even more once he comes back from playing with Tai! He spends a lot of time with his harmonica and is a lot more quiet. At night, he moves a lot, like he can't sleep or something."

"Hmm…" Mimi tapped her finger to her chin. "Maybe they're sick?"

"Oh no!" the younger children gasped.

"Yes, that must be it."

"I accidentally coughed on Tai yesterday," Kari sadly admitted. "Did I get him sick?"

"I don't know…" Mimi suddenly had a thought. "You two say that they've been acting really weird at home and I see that they're acting weird when they come and play with me here."

"Ok," Kari said, trying to understand where she was getting at.

"And it's not just like they're _trying _to be silly…they just can't help it. They like being around each other…a _lot._"

"What's going on?" T.K. asked.

"I don't get it," Kari said.

"It's ok guys," Mimi patted his head. "I'm sure that they don't know what's going on either."

"I want to know what's going on with my brother!" T.K. exclaimed. "I want to know why he's ignoring me!"

"And why Tai keeps smiling all the time!" Kari added.

"And why he's always singing to himself!"

"And why he keeps changing his clothes a lot!"

"And why he's always sighing real happy like!"

"And why he's always daydreaming!"

"And why he's—"

"OK! OK!" Mimi shouted over their complaints. "You guys are giving me a headache with all your questions…"

"…What's a headache?" T.K. asked.

"I don't know, but mommy says I give her one a lot," Mimi shrugged. "Now, I'm going to tell you guys why your brothers are acting all weird. Luckily for you, the queen knows all things and happens to be an expert at this." The two younger siblings waited anxiously. Mimi smiled happily. "Tai and Matt have been bitten by the love bug!"

"OH NO!" The two children gasped, and then started to cry. Mimi stared at them dumbfounded.

"Why are you crying?" She asked over their crying.

"I don't want Matt to be bitten by a bug!" T.K. sobbed.

"Does that mean Tai is going to be really sick?" Kari wailed her question out. They started to cry even harder. Mimi looked around nervously, trying to look for _some _sort of help. Unfortunately, she found none and so she had to calm the upset children by herself.

"I didn't mean that they actually got bit by a bug!" she called out. They immediately calmed their crying and looked at her.

"Really?" Kari sniffed.

"Yep," Mimi nodded. "What I meant was that…Well…Tai and Matt are…Um…" She put her forefinger and her thumb on her chin once again. "This is a little harder than I thought." The young queen started pacing again, and then stopped once she had a somewhat decent explanation.

"Well, basically what I'm trying to say is that they really really _really _like each other."

"Huh?" the two questioned in unison. Mimi sighed.

"Yeah…they like each other…You know when your mommy and daddy get together and start being all huggy and kissy and that stuff? That basically means they're in a really strong like with each other, which is the same thing as saying they've been bit by the love bug."

"Ew!" T.K. stuck his tongue out. "Does that mean they're going to be kissing each other in front of us all the time?"

"I don't know…ask them!" Mimi shrugged.

"Do they _really _like each other, Mimi?" Kari asked hopefully. Mimi thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. Then more mischievously, she added, "But I know one way to find out!" T.K. and Kari watched as the queen of the playground ran away. They quickly abandoned their sand cakes, and followed her over to the knight now approaching the borders of the kingdom. Tai had a very surprised look at the sight of Mimi and the two younger children running towards him.

"Where are you guys running to?" He asked as they stopped in front of him, except for Kari who gave him a big hug.

"Is it true brother?" Kari asked.

"Are you guys going to be kissing all the time?" T.K. asked.

"Does this mean you're going to get married?"

"Kissing is gross!"

"Sir Tai," Mimi panted in her most queen like voice she could muster, after all she _had _been running. "I have a very important question to ask you, and you must answer with complete honesty. Do you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you," Tai cocked his head to one side. "Otherwise, I'd have no ears or something."

"Sir Tai," Mimi started. She tried to control her excitement she was feeling, because she still had to act like a queen. But finally, she couldn't take it any longer. "Do you like Matt?" From the look on Tai's face, the answer was very clear. He went from complete shock, to embarrassment. His face turned beet red and he avoided Mimi's eyes.

"N-No!" Tai spat out. Then he thought for a moment. "Maybe…" Then the famous goofy smile Kari had spoken of earlier appeared on his face. "A little bit…" Kari grinned up at Mimi while T.K. continued to stare at Tai, unsure of his exact answer. Mimi started to hop around in excitement.

"I KNEW IT!" she cheered. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" She quickly composed herself. "You should tell him."

"Why?" Tai asked.

"Because I say so!"

"You're not the boss of me!"

"Yes I am! I'm the queen!"

"Not right now. You're just Mimi." Mimi thought about this for a moment, then she got another idea.

"Well then, Sir Tai, I now have a great task for you to complete." Tai grinned. He loved the task Queen Mimi gave him to complete.

"What is it?" Tai asked eagerly. "Fight off an ogre? Save a burning village?" Mimi shook her head.

"Your task shall be…" Again, Mimi waited a bit to control her excitement, and also hold out the suspension. "You have to go to Prince Matt and tell him you like him!"

"Oooh!" The two younger children said together.

"What!" Tai gasped. His face returned to the lovely shade of red he wore earlier. "I-I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Mimi asked. "You're the knight after all. You're supposed to do things like this."

"B-because…Matt's not even here yet!"

"Well tell him when he gets here silly!"

"This isn't fair Mimi..."

"How come you don't want to tell him?"

"Because…" The young brunette lowered his head. "What if…he doesn't like me back?"

"Don't worry Tai," Kari said to her brother. "We're sure he likes you." Tai still wasn't so sure.

"Look! Here comes Matt now!" T.K. yipped happily. Tai panicked as he saw the young blonde walking over to them.

"Come on Tai," Mimi grinned. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"I think I'm going to throw up…" Tai groaned. Mimi made a face of disgust and started running away. The two younger siblings seemed to have understood her silent message and followed her. "Hey! Where are you guys going?"

"This is only for the brave knight!" Mimi quietly said as she hid behind the jungle gym. Tai opened his mouth to protest, but closed it when Matt finally came up to him.

"Hey," he greeted. "Where did they go?"

"Um…" Tai tried to come up with a good excuse. "T-they're playing hide-and-seek! Yeah, and we're it!"

"Oh ok! Should we start looking for them then?"

"Um…" Matt started to wander off to look for them but Tai caught his hand. "Actually…I need to tell you something." The young blonde had a surprised look on his face but then it turned into curiosity.

"Ok, what?" he asked. Tai looked around and then led his friend to a more private area of the playground: under the slide.

Tai sat down on the sand and patted the area next to him. Matt gave him a curious look, but then sat. They stayed like that for a moment, in silence.

"Matt," Tai started. "There's…something I want to tell you." The young blonde waited as his friend tried to figure out how to fulfill his "quest." At some point, Matt had slipped his own hand into Tai's. That made Tai's heart feel very happy and then his fears didn't even seem to matter anymore. "You really are my best friend Matt. You're really fun to play with and you're really nice too. I just want to say that…" The brave knight looked into the prince's deep blue eyes.

"I really like you Matt," he smiled. Matt's eyes widened and he turned a deep shade of red. Tai suddenly felt his nervousness return and he too blushed. He gently slipped his hand out of the other boy's hands and waited. The blonde lowered his eyes and mumbled something. Tai tilted his head. "What?"

"I said, 'I really like you too,'" Matt muttered again, a little louder. "You were my first real friend and I'm happy that you were. You're really brave and playing with you is one of the best things of the day." Matt looked up at his friend, worry in his eyes. "Is…this ok?"

"I think so!" Tai grinned and scooted closer to his worried prince. "Why would it not be ok?"

"Because…I like you and you're a boy…and you like me and I'm a boy," Matt pointed out. "Boys aren't supposed to like other boys…they're supposed to like girls…Even if they do have cooties." Tai hadn't thought of that before…and it suddenly made sense in his mind why Matt was worried about this. They sat quietly for a moment.

"I don't know if its ok that we like each other…even if we are boys," Tai admitted. "But…I do know that I like you…a lot."

"How do you know?" Matt asked.

"Because I feel really happy with you," Tai smiled. He took his friend's hand once again and placed it over his own heart. "Especially right here." Matt blinked a moment, then smiled up at his friend.

"I guess you're right Tai," Matt sighed. He then took the darker boy's hand and placed it on his chest. "Because I feel the same way." They smiled at each other. Before either boy had realized what was happening, they felt their lips press against one another's. They blinked in confusion, but smiled.

"HURRAY!" Tai and Matt jumped and turned to look at Mimi and their younger siblings jumping up and down with joy. Mimi came up to them and gave them a hug.

"You did it!" she cheered. She pulled back and grinned at them. "Now you two should get married!"

"Married?" they both echoed in unison.

"T.K.! You help Tai get ready! Kari! You help Matt!" the queen ordered.

"Shouldn't T.K. help me since I'm his brother?" Matt asked.

"Who's the queen here?"

"Sorry."

"Alright! So, at four 'o clock, I'll call you guys back here so that I can marry you guys! Ok? Go!" Tai pouted and looked at Matt. The blonde shrugged and followed the brunette's little sister over to one side of the playground. Tai smiled at him and then followed the small blonde to the opposite side of the playground.

This was probably one of the hardest tasks he had to do for Queen Mimi…but it was definitely worth it.

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><p><em><em>Listened to "The Little Mermaid" Broadway for the first part with Mimi ("She's In Love") and "Spamalot" for the second part with Tai ("Find Your Grail"). Yep...Music is my fountain of inspiration. :D<em>_

_Hope this all made sense. Please review or leave me a comment on what you liked and what you think I could do better on! I thrive on comments, especially since life has been rather cooky...like how I have an early morning class tomorrow...balls... ^_^_

_Until next time!_


	6. 5: Flowers and Bunnies

**_NOTE:_**_ Woo! Another update after...who knows how long. XD Thanks to all of those who have reviewed and kept on reading this story!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 5. Flowers and Bunnies<strong>

"I don't know how to get married," Matt scratched his head and muttered to Kari. The young brunette blinked curiously at the older boy, then started picking dandelions from the grassy area they were in. Matt sighed and looked back at his friend, who was on the other side of the playground.

Tai was chatting with T.K. and seemed very casual about the whole thing. It wasn't until Tai looked up at Matt and smiled, that the blonde suddenly felt really nervous. Matt held his stomach and looked away from the boy who made him feel so happy and yet so crazy at the same time.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore," Matt whimpered. Kari looked up at the older boy, and then hurried over to his side. "Kari, what do I do?" The young girl thought for a moment.

"My brother is a good brother," she said to him. "He'll take care of you just like he takes care of me." He thought about what she had said. The young girl's response gave just enough comfort and confidence to the blonde. Kari smiled up at him, then handed over the bouquet of flowers. Matt smiled back at her.

"OK!" Mimi called out. "It's four o'clock now!" The children scurried back to the queen. She was under the slide and she held a stick in her hand. She motioned for Tai and Matt to stand before her. They did so. "Ok now…ahem…We are gathered here today—"

"Hey, what about us?" T.K. asked. "What are we going to do now?"

"Oh, well…" Mimi thought for a moment. "You guys can be the witnesses for the wedding!"

"What does that mean?" Kari asked.

"It means if someone asks you if they got married, then you can happily say that they did and that you were there to see it for yourselves."

"Oh…ok!" they both chimed and then stood next to Mimi on either side of her.

"Ok…We are gathered here today for the marriage of Prince Matt and Sir Tai. These two promise to be with one another for hot and for cold, for rich and for poor, for sickness and in hell, and all of those other promises people make during the wedding." She turned to Tai. "Sir Tai, do you take Prince Matt, to be your lawful wedded wife?"

"Wait! Why am I the wife?" Matt asked.

"Because you're the one holding the flowers," Mimi said matter-of-factly. "Now, as I was say—"

"I'm just holding them because Kari gave them to me," Matt protested.

"Why did you take them then?"

"I thought it was like a present or something."

"Do you want to get married or not?" Mimi snapped. Matt opened his mouth to protest again, but looked over at Tai and closed his mouth. Even though the other boy looked amused, he didn't want to do anything that would make it so that they couldn't get married. Matt sighed and nodded.

"Ahem…as I was saying," Mimi continued. "Sir Tai, do you take Prince Matt to be your lawful wedded…husband." Matt smiled at the change of title.

"I do…?" Tai responded, not quite sure if he said the right words. He looked back to T.K. and Kari, who nodded at him. "Oh, I do!"

"And do you, Prince Matt," Queen Mimi addressed the blonde. "Take Sir Tai to also be your lawful wedded husband?"

"I do," Matt said happily.

"Yay!" Mimi cheered. Then she composed herself. "I mean…um…alright then." She turned to look around. "If anyone doesn't want them to get married, speak now or forever be quiet." They looked around and waited, but no one said anything. "Ok then! By the power invested in me, Queen Mimi, I hereby say that you two are husband and wife…er…husband. Tai, you can kiss your bride."

The young brunette giggled at the fact that Matt was called a "bride" but then he leaned forward to the blonde and gave him a small peck on the lips. The younger siblings and the Queen cried out in happiness.

"Now that you guys are married," Mimi smiled. "You guys can go on your bunny moon!"

"Bunny moon?" the newly-weds asked in unison.

"What's a bunny moon, Mimi?" T.K. asked. Mimi opened her mouth, then closed it again. She put her pointer finger and thumb on her chin.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I heard my mom saying that she wanted to go on another bunny moon with my dad because it would be fun."

"Maybe they're supposed to go feed bunnies," Kari suggested.

"Or maybe they're supposed to hop around until night time," T.K. offered.

"I remember!" Mimi snapped her fingers. "It's when the two new married people go and have a sleep over at one of their houses and cuddle like bunnies!" Mimi looked at both of them. "So where are you two going to have your sleep over?" Matt and Tai looked at each other and shrugged. Matt honestly didn't care much for a bunny moon. He was just really happy that he was now married to Tai.

"Do you want to come over and sleep at my home?" Tai offered.

"I'll have to ask my mommy," Matt admitted.

"Well, let's go find her then!" Tai said happily, took Matt's hand and then led him out of under the slide. The group of children wandered around the playground until they found Matt and Tai's mothers, talking amongst themselves. As the children got closer, Matt could see that his mother suddenly looked very surprised. Matt gently pulled his hand away from Tai's hand and walked up to his mother.

"Mommy, is it ok if I sleep over at Tai's house?" he asked. Matt's mother stared at her son for a moment, then turned to Tai's mother.

"What do you think Yuuko?" she asked. Tai's mother looked down at the children.

"Well, Kari is just getting over her sickness," she admitted. "But I'm sure if Matt stays with Tai, he'll be perfectly fine."

"Yay!" Tai cheered and he hugged his new husband tightly. "You're going to be sleeping at my house tonight!" Matt smiled and hugged his husband back.

"Come on!" Mimi shouted. "Let's go play adventure now!" The children cheered in excitement and then raced off to play on the playground. After they managed to defeat the ugly ogre, save Prince Matt and the Queen from terrible monsters, and helping Sir Tai train the younger siblings, it was time for the children to go home.

"Alright then," Matt's mother sighed. "I'll drop by later to give Matt his clothes for tomorrow and his night things." She stood and took T.K. by the hand. "Come along T.K., it's time for us to go home now." T.K. turned to look at his brother and waved as their mother led them away.

"Bye Matt!" he called out. "Have fun in your bunny moon!" Matt's mother quickly turned around and stared at Tai and Matt. There was something weird about the way she looked at them…like they were doing something really bad. Tai's mom giggled and placed a hand on both of the boy's heads.

"Good-bye Nancy," she said to her. "I'll see you later with Matt's things." She looked down at the children, then smiled slightly.

"Yes, of course," she sighed. "Good-bye Yuuko." And with that, Matt's mother and brother went off to their apartment, while Matt followed Tai and his family. Slyly, Tai had slipped his hand into the blonde's, and he held it the whole way up to their place.

**oXoXoXoXo**

"What do you mean you think Matt's gay?" Hiroaki questioned his wife. "Don't you think he's a little too young to be called that?"

"You didn't see how they acted with one another Hiro," she muttered as she continued to pace back and forth while chewing on a pen. "They were holding hands, hugging each other…"

"Seems like he was just responding to Tai's overly friendly personality," Hiroaki shrugged. "I've met the boy once, and he immediately ran up to me and shook my hand." Matt's father chuckled at the memory. "He's got quite a spirit."

"You don't understand," she shook her head. "You didn't see what I saw when I went over there to drop of Matt's things."

"What? We're they having sex or something?"

"Hiroaki!"

"Ha ha! I was just teasing."

"That's not funny!"

"Well, forgive me for trying to lighten up the mood." They were silent for a moment. "What did you see then, Nancy?" Nancy sighed and dropped the pen on to the coffee table.

"I knocked on the door and waited for them to open," she explained. "Yuuko, Tai's mother, opened the door and let me in. She went to call Matt and soon came back with our son and Tai closely following behind. The boy was acting like some love sick puppy…I gave Matt his things and then started chatting with Yuuko for a moment. Then, suddenly, out of the corner of our eyes, we saw…we saw…" She bit her bottom lip, still trying to convince herself that what she saw wasn't true.

"What? What did you see?"

"…We saw Tai kiss Matt," she finished. Her husband had a surprised look on his face, as though he was just told that his shoes were made of cheese.

"…Wow…" he simply said.

"Afterwards, Yuuko asked Tai if he just kissed Matt. He simply smiled and shrugged. Yuuko explained to him that it wasn't a good idea to kiss another boy like how he had just kissed Matt."

"I guess that was a good idea," Hiroaki nodded slowly, processing the information he was being given.

"I know that Tai is a nice boy," Nancy sighed and sat next to her husband. "And his family is very kind…" Hiroaki waited.

"But?" Nancy turned and looked at her husband.

"But I don't want Matt to be gay," she said quietly. "I don't want to be the reporter who has to write the news story of my sixteen year old son being chained up to a fence and beaten to death. Or the one to interview the witness of my son jumping off a bridge because he couldn't deal with the way society was treating him. Or…" Nancy trailed off, unable to continue the other horrible stories she had heard from her fellow reporters. Hiroaki stayed silent for a moment, then kissed his wife.

"Don't worry Nancy," he muttered to her. "He's still young. It might be a faze he's going through."

"But what if it's not?" she questioned.

"Matt is a strong boy. He may be quiet, but he's got a strong soul."

"I…I don't know Hiro…" He took her hand and held it tightly.

"Nancy, I'm your best friend," he smiled at her. "I've been with you for better or for worse, for rich or for poorer, and in sickness and health. I've been with you when Matt was born, and when T.K. almost—"

"Don't!" she quickly cut off. He opened his mouth and then nodded.

"You're going to have to trust me that everything will be ok. No matter what, we can get through this." Nancy looked into her husband's eyes for a long time. She gave one curt nod, and then snuggled up against him. Hiroaki wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I love you Nancy."

"I love you too, Hiro," Nancy murmured. She was sure that what Hiroaki said was true…she just wished she could fully believe it.

**oXoXoXoXo**

"Psst! Matt?" Tai whispered. The young blonde opened his eyes and turned to look at Tai. The two boys were sharing the bottom bunk, since they insisted on sharing a bed and they knew the top bunk wouldn't hold them up well, and were supposed to be asleep by now. "Are you awake?"

"I am now," Matt whispered quietly. "What's up?"

"I can't sleep," the young brunette sighed.

"Why not?" Tai stared at Matt and grinned widely.

"Because I'm too happy," he whispered. "I'm really happy that I got to marry you today, Matt." Matt blinked and smiled. Tai leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against the other boy's cheek.

"Didn't your mommy say not to do that?" the blonde muttered, nervously checking to see if his mother wasn't about to pounce out and say "NO KISSING!"

"Well, we are on our bunny moon right now," Tai shrugged. "So it should be ok."

"Shouldn't we be cuddling then? Like bunnies?" Matt questioned. On cue, Tai wrapped his small arms around his husband. Matt snuggled closer to him and hugged him back. They stayed quiet for a moment, enjoying being so close to one another.

"When we grow up," Tai whispered. "I really want to marry you Matt." Matt blushed hard and he could feel his heart starting to beat harder.

"D-do you mean it?" he asked.

"Yes. I want to marry you."

"Ok…I want to marry you too, Tai." Despite what his mother said earlier, Tai kissed Matt once again. After a moment, the young brunette let out a soft yawn and soon fell asleep. Now it was Matt's turn to not be able to sleep.

He couldn't believe what he had just heard. It made him happy to think of him and Tai being married just like his own mother and father. Matt was sure they'd be happy together, and that nothing in the world could tear them apart. The blonde gently kissed his husband on the forehead.

"I love you…Tai," Matt barely whispered. Tai didn't move, so he was obviously asleep. It was alright with Matt though. He could spend the rest of his life telling him how much he loved him. The last thing Matt remembered thinking before slipping into his own slumber, was the image of an older Sir Tai and Prince Matt being happily married and riding off into the sunset.

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><p><em>"MAAAAAARRY ME! Today and every day. MAAAAARRY ME!" *cough cough* Ok...musical moment done. Oh Matt...you love sick puppy you. XD<em>

_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope it was worth the wait. ^_^ Please leave me a comment to know whether you are liking this story or not (but not in a flame way, please. Other wise, I'll just use them for a weenie roast)._


	7. 6: The Untold Story

_**NOTE:** Whew! Another chapter update! *pumps fist in victory* What has it been? Almost two weeks? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 6. The Untold Story<strong>

We now jump back to the present, where we find Matt standing in line to buy a ticket for the last train heading to the airport. From the airport, he would buy the quickest ticket to England and hopefully leave Japan by the end of the night. He was taking drastic measures, and he was sure that once he bought his ticket, he could call his father to drop off some things for him so that he could live in a motel or something in the meantime…

Matt sighed and scolded himself, once again, on how stupid he was acting. He shouldn't have told Tai he was leaving _tonight. _Had he said later in the week, or even tomorrow, maybe Matt would have had time to organize his living essentials and such. For the moment however, he was near the end of the line, waiting for a train ticket. The blonde dropped his gaze and shoved his hand in his pocket…only to find that the small object he wanted to toy with was no longer with him. That small item had always helped him to cope with stress or if he felt upset, and now it was gone. It was given to his friend whom he loved more than anything…and also hated at the same time. Another sigh and Matt simply folded his arms. Could things get any more complicated?

"Um…excuse me…sir?" The blonde looked down to see a young child, staring up at him. It was a young boy with jet black hair and green eyes, which seemed to be slightly red and puffy. The young boy stared up at Matt. "I…I lost my mom…" The boy's bottom lip started to quiver. "C-Can you…h-help…m-m-me?"

"S-Sorry kid," Matt said, inwardly cringing at the sight of the sad young boy; a sight that reminded him of some bad memories. "I don't know where your mom is." The boy started to sniffle slightly. Matt smiled sadly at the boy. "But, if you want, I can come with you to look for her. Do you want me to?" The little boy nodded his head. Matt took a look at the ticket line, motioned the young boy to follow him and led him to the information desk.

There, the boy told the workers what his mother's name was and they called her over the speakers. They told them to wait for a moment while she came down here. Matt took the little boy over to a nearby bench and sat down. The young boy was still sniffling and it started making Matt feel rather sad to see him that way. Then he got an idea.

"Do you want to hear a story?" Matt asked. The little boy looked up at him with his green eyes.

"What…kind of story?" he sniffled.

"It was a story that my mom used to tell me when I was little like you," Matt replied. "…How old are you anyways?"

"I'm six and a half," the boy smiled. Matt smiled as the young boy wiped his eyes. "Ok. I would like to hear a story."

"Alright then…Let's see…Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived two handsome young men. One of them was a handsome prince, who was kind and just. Everybody loved the young prince and he was a friend to all. The other was a knight. He was brave and strong and admired by the rest of the villagers. These two men were best friends and nothing could keep them apart.

"One day, the queen ordered the knight and prince to her throne. She told them of a wicked witch that had started to bring trouble to the kingdom. The queen knew that by the power and strength of themselves and their friendship, they could easily destroy the witch, and so she asked them to go find the witch and stop her immediately. The two friends agreed and set off on their journey.

"The witch knew of their plans to defeat her and set to work on trying to destroy them. She decided that the best way to make sure they fail was if she could separate them somehow. Finally, she decided to send out her evil dragon to stop the two friends.

"The dragon quickly found them and started to attack them. The knight fought bravely against the dragon but he was no match for him. In desperation to help his friend, the prince promised to go with the dragon, if he would spare his friend's life. The dragon agreed and took the prince to the witch's secret lair.

"When the dragon brought the prince to the witch's lair, she thought that this would be enough to stop them from ever defeating her. She was about to reign havoc onto the kingdom, but soon the knight came into the lair. When the dragon had taken the prince away, the brave knight followed the prince right to the secret lair.

"The brave knight fought against the dragon and this time, he was able to kill him off. Once the dragon was slain, the witch became very angry and was about to curse the brave knight. The prince saw this and quickly stopped the witch from casting an evil spell on his friend. The prince jumped in front of the knight and held up a large mirror, which caused the spell to go back and hit the witch instead. The witch let out a scream of defeat and then melted away into nothing.

"The two friends returned to the castle and reported their defeat of the wicked witch. The queen was over joyed and threw a large feast in celebration to their victory. The brave knight and the prince were given metals and were great heroes to the kingdom.

"From that day on ward, the prince and the knight fought evil together, their friendship never ending… And they lived happily ever after. The end."

"That was a great story!" the young boy chirped happily. "Did your mom really tell you that story?"

"Yep," the older blonde nodded. "Only, it actually came from a story book and she'd read it to me. I was just sort of paraphrasing it because I heard it so much when I was little that I pretty much memorized it." The small boy giggled at the idea. Matt was glad that the young boy didn't catch the delay in him saying the final words of the story. He hated that little phrase…so much…

"Do you think this story is possible?" the little boy interrupted Matt's thought. Matt chewed on his finger nail for a moment, trying to be careful from letting his own emotions conquer over the dreams of a young child's.

"Well, I think things can change," Matt started. "I mean, it's possible that this could happen, but things might happen…" The boy nodded, trying to understand. Matt looked down at the floor and smiled. "You know…I used to have a knight of my very own."

"Really?" the boy gasped. "Does that mean…you're the prince?"

"No not really," Matt laughed. "But when I was little I did consider myself to be like the prince, and I had a best friend who was exactly like the knight. He was brave and strong and he was always there for me. We'd play with each other all the time and we had great adventures together." Matt smiled at the memories which he had held on to for so long, and then soon found himself frowning at them. The young boy noticed.

"What happened then?" he asked. "You don't look very happy."

"Well, it's like I said…things change," Matt murmured. "After a while, we grew up and…he just…sort of forgot me…"

"That's terrible!" the young boy gasped again. He jumped up with determination, took Matt by the hand and started leading him off. "Come on! We're going to find your friend and knock some sense into that fat head of his."

"Whoa! Slow down tiger!" Matt chuckled. He motioned for the boy to sit down again, which he did. "It's ok, really. It's not that big of deal that he doesn't remember me."

"But, you guys were the prince and knight…your friendship was never ending."

"It is never ending…but sometimes, it's ok to just let the other person go and see if they really care…" They sat quietly for a moment. The little child looked up at the older teenager with his deep green eyes.

"Do you miss him?" the black haired boy asked. Matt looked down at the little boy, and then down to the ground. He swallowed the lump in his throat that had suddenly formed.

"…Yeah…" Matt quietly choked out. "…a lot…"

"JASON!" The two boys turned to see a woman running right at them, with another man following closely behind. The young boy stood and raced over to, what Matt concluded as, his mother. They both embraced. "Oh my son!" The woman started sobbing uncontrollably as the man following her soon caught up.

"Thank you so much for finding our son," the man panted. "My wife and I had been looking for him for a very long time. We were afraid we would have to board our train without him. But once we heard the announcement overhead, we hurried over as soon as we could. We're so grateful to you." The woman soon let go of her son and wrapped her arms around the older boy.

"Thank you for taking care of our son!" she sniffled.

"It's not a problem," Matt smiled and patted Jason's mother on the back. "I'm glad that I was able to help him out." The young boy, known as Jason, looked up at Matt and smiled widely.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we don't even know your name," Jason's mother giggled in embarrassment as she pulled out of the embrace and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief that she pulled out of her purse.

"It's alright," Matt smiled. "My name is Matt."

"We are in your debt, Matt," Jason's father chuckled. "If there is any way we can help, anyway at all, please just say so."

"Unless you can magically come up with a train ticket to the airport," Matt muttered. "Then I don't think so." Jason's father looked at his wife, who nodded.

"The three of us are actually going to board the last train to the airport," the man explained. Matt thought he might have been rubbing it in his face…until he pulled out a spare train ticket from his wallet.

"Huh?" Matt blinked in surprise. "Oh no, I was just joking. I can't accept this!"

"Well, I don't see why not," Jason's father shrugged and placed the ticket in Matt's hand. "It's the least we can do since you helped our son."

"Yeah but…I should pay for this," Matt said holding the ticket out so that the man would take it back.

"You helped us find our son," Jason's mother smiled. "That ticket was for my husband's co-worker, but he was unable to make it to the last train."

"I was going to take it with me and get a refund," Jason's father nodded. "But I can see that you need it more than I do." The man saw the slight panic and displeasure in Matt's face. "Isn't that what you said you wanted?"

"Y-yes, it is. But…It's just that…" Matt looked down at the ticket. "I'm…kind of waiting for a friend…"

"He wants to wait for his knight," Jason piped up. The parents looked at their son curiously and Matt's face turned bright red. "Matt is the prince and he's waiting for his best friend to come and be his knight again."

"What a silly story," Jason's mother chuckled. Matt's heart slightly sank at his fairy tale being called "silly."

"It's not silly," Jason protested. "He told me the story of the prince and the knight and how he used to have a friend like the knight. Now he's waiting for the knight to come and sweep him off his feet!"

"Jason."

"That's what the story books always say the knight does to the princess."

"Yes, _princess._ Not princes."

"What's the difference?"

"That's a conversation for another time young man," Jason's father cut the argument. He then looked back at the teenage blonde. "Well Matt, I suppose it's all up to you. You're more than welcome to share a seat in our section. Or you can wait for your friend—"

"His knight!" Jason corrected.

"—it's your choice." Matt smiled at the family thankfully and then looked down at the ticket once again.

This was what he was waiting for. This small piece of paper that he held in his hands was giving him a second chance. A chance to start over and leave all this pain and heart ache behind. For good. It was obvious that Tai wasn't going to be remembering anything any time soon…so it would have been best to just take the ticket and leave.

But there was still that small part of him, that young child inside him, that was screaming at him to hold on and wait. Maybe Tai can remember everything that happened to them. Maybe it wasn't his life that he needed to give a second chance…but Tai himself. Maybe there was still hope for Matt to reach his own "happily ever after."

The blonde teenager turned to look behind him, to see if Tai was charging through the crowd of people and coming to take Matt away…But he wasn't. Once again, he had allowed his hopes to rise in vain. Matt looked back down at the ticket.

'_Tai isn't coming for me,' _Matt thought to himself. _'Maybe I should just give up. Maybe... this is the only way.'_

**oXoXoXoXo**

"And so after the 'bunny moon,' Sir Tai and Prince Matt continued to play together in their unnamed kingdom with Queen Mimi and their young siblings." Tai smiled as Sora continued on with the story. A soft breeze gently blew at his wild hair as he was staring down at the small object Matt had given him earlier. Then, the brunette frowned. "Is something wrong Tai?"

"I just…don't understand why I don't remember any of this," Tai muttered sadly. "I mean…now that you're telling me all of this, it feels like I do remember and that I have gone through this…but I don't…"

"It's ok Tai," Sora gently patted him on the arm. "It'll come to you."

"Why can't I remember Sora?"

"Maybe it's just because there was a long period of time since you saw each other as children and teenagers? Or maybe something happened to you that made you forget."

"Like a concussion or something?"

"Maybe."

_'I want him back!' _a little boy's voice whined in his head before an image of blue eyes faded into Tai's memory. _'I miss him!'_

_**'Look kid!' **_Teenage Tai growled at the child. _**'I don't know who **_**he **_**is!'**_

_'You forgot him! And I promised you wouldn't! You're a liar!'_

_**'I don't even remember a promise!'**_

_'Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!'_

"Shut up!" Tai growled.

"What?"

"Oh! Um…nothing!" Tai blushed, having realized that he wasn't alone with the child in his head. He slowly started to rock himself back and forth on the swing. "So…tell me Sora…if I can't remember Matt in my childhood…why do I remember you so well?"

"Like when you threw up in my hat?" Sora playfully glared at him.

"Um…I wasn't going to go there…"

"Well, I was about to get to that part anyways." Sora started pumping her legs gently and she picked up momentum on the swing. Tai waited as the red head thought for a moment. Then a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "Chapter seven—"

"Weren't you on chapter six?" Tai asked.

"Was I?"

"I don't know…I'm not even sure why you're still going with this fairy tale themed—"

"You wanna know why Matt ran away?"  
>"Yes!"<p>

"Then let me tell you the story." Tai slightly pouted at his friend's stubbornness to keep the fairy tale story theme alive. Sora skidded to a halt on the swing and smiled at Tai. "Chapter seven…Enter the wicked witch."

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><p><em>Hmm...I wonder who on earth she could be referring to? ;) Explanation in the next chapter! Hee hee, I couldn't resists but to bring in inner-child-Tai again. :D<br>_

_So I just want to give a shout out to a couple of authors out there very quickly:_

_harathor, thanks for always chatting it up with me and keeping me up with this story._

_, thank you for your freaking long chapter in "TMTFTF" because it really inspired me to finish up this chapter and story! :D_

_Kerukeru and Takato Lover16, thanks for the little requests that keep me inspired to write more! ;)_

_And finally, thank you all to have reviewed this story so far! With out you guys, I probably would have quit writing a long time ago. Thank you so much for all your feed back and taking the time to read!_

_...on that note, please feel free to leave me a comment on what you think about this chapter. Do you love it? Do you hate it? Are you dying to know what the heck is the small item Matt gave Tai? ;) Constructive criticism is VERY much appreciated! Flames=weenie roast. Nuff said._

_Ok...I'll get off my soap box now. ^_^;_


	8. 7: Enter the Wicked Witch

_ Updated chapter, woot! _

_Tai is a bit of a punk here...hee hee hee..._

_Oh, P.S. There is a contest thing going on called the FF Factor and I'm a judge in it. If you're interested, go to my profile and check it out. ;)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 7. Enter the Wicked Witch<strong>

"I don't want to play hide-and-seek!" Tai whined. "I want to go play soccer!"

"You can play soccer any time!" Mimi placed her hands on her hips. "Right now, I say we all play hide-and-seek!"

"We played that last time!" Tai frowned. "I want to play something different now!"

"I'm the queen of this kingdom and you're the knight! You have to do what I say!"

"You can't keep saying that Mimi! It's getting old!"

"That's _Queen _Mimi to you, Tai!"

Matt sighed sadly as he watched his husband and the queen argue back and forth on what to play this time. Tai, being the active little boy that he was, was getting awfully bored of playing the same games Mimi suggested and wanted to play his favorite sport. Mimi on the other hand, didn't want to get dirty or stinky and absolutely refused to play such a "silly game." The young brunette looked towards the blonde.

"Matt, what do you think?" he asked. Matt gulped. And he was doing such a good job at not being brought into the middle of this fight. He looked at both of them.

"Well, Tai is right about hide-and-seek being boring," Matt admitted. Tai gave Mimi a triumphant look. "But I also think Mimi is right about not wanting to play soccer." Mimi stuck her tongue out at Tai, who returned the gesture. "So maybe…we can play something different…like sand tag."

"Hmm…ok," Mimi nodded. "I'm ok with that." The two looked towards the small brunette.

"Tai?" Matt asked. Tai folded his arms over his chest.

"I still want to play soccer…" he pouted.

"Ugh! Don't be such a baby Tai!" Mimi scoffed.

"I'm not a baby! I just want to play soccer!"

"Well if you want to keep on being a baby about it, go play soccer on your own!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" And with that, the two quarreling children turned and ran off in their separate ways, leaving Matt standing by himself.

The young prince didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he wanted to go after the boy he was very attached to and be with him, no matter what the game was. On the other hand, he knew that Mimi might become upset and not speak to them. On the other, other, hand, it was much funner to play games together, not with leaving someone out. Matt looked at both directions to where his friends and then went after Mimi first.

"Mimi?" Matt called out in the playground. He soon found Mimi sitting on the swings with her nose in the air. The blonde trotted over to her and sat in the swing next to her. "Mimi, why don't we do what Tai wants for today and go play with him?"

"I don't want to get yucky!" Mimi argued. "I just took a bath this morning!"

"You can take another bath tomorrow," Matt shrugged. "Or even tonight if you want."

"No thank you," Mimi huffed. "Besides, soccer is a silly game!"

"Mimi."

"I won't play it!" Matt sighed and tried to think of another way to convince her.

"Ok, well what if you just sort of went to watch?" the blonde offered. The young girl looked at him suspiciously. "Me and Tai can play a game and you can just cheer for us from the sides." Mimi still didn't look convinced. "Come on, Mimi…We're all friends. And friends have fun together, not stand around and fight all the time. Please? Do this for me?" Mimi placed her fore finger and thumb on her chin and thought for a moment.

"Ok fine," she finally smiled and jumped off the swing. "I'll do it just because you love Tai so much." Matt blushed and followed Mimi as she happily skipped away to the open field. It took them a while to find the brunette and Matt was afraid that he might have just run off. Finally they found him playing soccer, but he wasn't alone.

A young girl, who looked about Tai and Matt's age, with red hair was kicking the ball around with Tai. Tai was trying his best to take control of the black and white ball, but the girl did well to keep it away from him. The girl giggled as she dodged Tai's foot and then kicked it hard towards the direction of Mimi and Matt. Tai looked up at his two friends and waved.

"Hi guys!" he called out and quickly went after the ball. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to play with you Tai," Matt said, still looking at the new girl.

"Well, Matt came to play," Mimi corrected. "I just came to cheer."

"Oh…" Tai frowned slightly. He looked back at the girl and then to them. "Well, I was kind of playing with that girl over there because you guys said you didn't want to."

"I never said I didn't want to," Matt frowned.

"You said you'd rather play tag," Tai said. Matt opened his mouth to object, but then remembered that he did say that.

"Why can't Matt still play though?" Mim asked.

"Well because, we were having a sort of one-on-one game," Tai explained. "And if Matt played too, then it'd be two against one. And that's not very fair." Matt's heart started to feel sad. "But, if you want, we can just kick the ball around."

"Ok. We can try that." Tai smiled and took Matt by the hand to led his friends to the new girl.

"Who are your friends Tai?" the girl asked. She tilted her head slightly at Matt, who squeezed his hand tighter around Tai's.

"Everyone, this is Sora," Tai introduced the red head. "Sora, this is my friend Mimi and my best friend Matt. Is it ok if we sort of just kicked the ball between the three of us?"

"What about Mimi?" she asked.

"I'll just cheer from the side," Mimi grinned happily.

"Ok then," Sora giggled. "That's ok with me Tai." The three children set themselves up so that they were in a triangle. They each started kicking the ball to one another; Tai to Sora, Sora to Matt, and Matt to Tai. Mimi would cheered for them on the side and created little chants for each of them. After a while, Matt kicked the ball to Tai and he then kicked it to Sora a little harder than usual. The ball went zooming past Sora, and she had to go chasing after it.

"Oops!" Tai laughed as he watched Sora. "Sorry about that!" The red head came back with the ball, gave Tai a mischievous look, and then kicked the ball hard towards Tai. He jumped out of the way so that it wouldn't hit him and then ran after it. Matt waited and watched as the process continued. Tai would kick the ball hard past Sora, she'd go get it and then kick it back to Tai with equal power. Soon, the two had started their own one-on-one game of soccer.

"Hey…" Matt quietly said. "What about me?" The two children continued on their game, not paying much attention to Matt. Mimi gave the blonde a concerned look. Matt shrugged and then started to walk away from the field. His heart was feeling rather sad that he was being left out.

**oXoXoXoXo**

A soft knock came from the Ishida's door. Matt continued on playing his video game while his mother went to go answer it. She spoke to someone and then called Matt to the door. When he got there, he saw Mimi. Matt's mother went back into the kitchen as Matt joined Mimi outside and closed the door behind him.

"Hi Mimi," he smiled. She didn't smile back…in fact…she looked rather angry. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing," she huffed. "Except for the fact that you left us, and stupid Tai didn't even care!"

"He…didn't?" Matt muttered. His heart was starting to feel very sad now.

"No! He just kept playing with that new girl. Finally, once he saw that you were gone, he asked me where you were and I said that you went home. Do you know what he said after?" Matt shook his head. "He said that maybe your mommy just called you to go home and then he just kept on playing! After that I was so mad that I just left!" Mimi took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. "Anyways…I just wanted to come and see if you were ok. You looked very sad when you left."

"I was sad," Matt said. "And now I feel even more sad…He really didn't care that I left?"

"No…it didn't seem like it…" Matt lowered his head and let out a soft whimper. He wasn't sure why he was crying now…but he just felt so sad that he couldn't really hold it in anymore… Mimi looked at him for a moment and then gave him a hug. "I'm sorry Matt. I didn't want to make you cry." The small blonde hugged back.

"It's ok Mimi," Matt sniffed. "I'm not even sure why I'm crying." He pulled away and smiled at her. "Thanks for checking on me."

"Are you going to be ok Matt?" Mimi asked.

"Yes. I'll be ok."

"Ok…well, I have to go now. Bye bye Matt."

"Bye." Mimi skipped away to the elevator and Matt went back into his home. He trudged over to the kitchen where he sat down at the table and started munching on a bowl of animal crackers that were set out.

"Don't eat too much Matt," his mother warned. "Or else you'll spoil your appetite." Matt continued to nibble on the odd shaped animals, and thought about everything that happened today. His mother stared at him from washing the dishes. "What's wrong Matt? Why have you been crying?" The young blonde felt surprised and slightly embarrassed that he had been caught.

"I wasn't crying," he tried to defend. His mother put down the dish she was washing and joined her son at the table.

"Yes you were," she smiled as she sat down in the chair next to him. "A mother can always tell. Now what's wrong?" Matt bit off the head of the donkey he had, and wondered how to tell his mother what was going on.

"Mommy?" he stared.

"Yes Matt?"

"What happens when…you like someone and they like you back…but then something happens and they stop liking you?" Matt's mother stayed quiet for a moment.

"Well, it's not easy," she said. "It can really make you sad sometimes, and sometimes it can make you mad. But after you feel sad and mad, you just have to learn to keep going."

"But what if you still really really like them?" Matt asked.

"Sometimes, Matt, you just have to let things happen. Grandma used to tell me a saying; it said, 'if you love something, set it free. If it comes back it's yours, if not, then it was never meant to be.'"

"What does it mean?"

"It means…well, let's take Daddy for instance. I love daddy but I know he has to go to work. So I let him go. If he comes back, then that means he is still mine and that he loves me. If he doesn't—"

"Daddy is not coming back? What happened!"

"No, Daddy is fine…But…Well Matt, I think you just need to wait a little bit to see what happens."

"Oh…how long do I have to wait?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe you have to wait a long time, maybe you don't have to wait that much. No one really knows…Does that help, Sweetie?"

"Yes Mommy." Mother and son sat in silence for a moment.

"Matt?" his mother finally spoke. He looked at her intently. "Do you like someone right now? Is that why you are asking?" Matt nodded his head and bit off the elephant cracker's trunk. "Who is it then? Is it Mimi?"

"No!" Matt slightly giggled. "I don't like Mimi. She's my friend, but I don't like her."

"Oh alright," Matt's mother smiled. "So who do you like then?" Matt stayed quiet for a moment, then he smiled and looked at his mother.

"I like Tai," he admitted. His mother's smile vanished from her face, but Matt didn't notice because at that moment, he turned his attention to the few remaining animal crackers.

"MOMMMYYYYY!" T.K., who had been taking a nap until now, wailed from the other room. Matt looked up at his mother as she quickly stood and hurried off to the other room. Matt examined the now empty bowl of animal crackers and sighed. Matt's mother came back in, holding T.K. in her arms.

"Matt?" she gently called out. He turned to look at her. "Remember how I said you should wait to see what will happen?" Matt nodded. "Well, I have an idea…how about you just wait inside here for a while, instead of going out to play?" Matt thought for a moment about this option.

"But I still want to play with Mimi and Tai," he said. "Even if Tai does want to play with another girl…I still want to be with him. He's my best friend."

"Maybe Tai needs some time to wait too," his mother offered. "If you wait at home for a while, then it can give you two some time to think about things." Matt thought about it again. It seemed very obvious that his mother wanted him to stay at home. The whole waiting at home didn't make sense to Matt…but if his mommy wanted him to wait…

"Ok Mommy," he finally sighed. "I'll wait here." His mother smiled and then took T.K. to the kitchen to give him something to eat. Matt in the meantime abandoned his empty bowl and went into the room he shared with T.K. He pulled out his favorite storybook, about the prince and the knight, and quietly read it to himself. He smiled as he imagined himself and Tai looking a lot like the prince and knight once they were older. Matt reached the part about the wicked witch and he gasped. The witch had fire red hair…just like the new girl Sora did!

"Mommy!" Matt quickly jumped up and ran to the door. "I have to go see Tai!"

"Matt? What's wrong?" she asked as Matt quickly tried to put on his shoes.

"Tai's new friend is a wicked witch! She's going to hurt him Mommy! We have to save him!" He ran over to his mother and tugged her hand towards the door.

"Matt, sweetie, hold on," she held Matt back and then bent down to his level. "Sweetie, remember what we said you would do?"

"Yes, but Mommy! Tai's new friend is a wicked witch!"

"How do you know that?"

"I was reading my book and the witch had red hair just like Sora! She's a witch Mommy!" Matt's mother gently placed a hand on her son's shoulder.

"Matt," she said softly. "That is just a story. It's not real."

"It's not?" Matt asked, his heart slightly sinking.

"No dear," she shook her head. "There are no such things as real witches."

"…Or dragons?"

"Or dragons." Matt lowered his head.

"Then…I'm not a _real _prince?" he asked quietly. His mother smiled and hugged him.

"You are my prince Matt," she said.

"…I want to be Tai's prince too…" he whispered. Matt's mother pulled back and looked long and hard at her son. Finally she sighed, stroked his hair and told him to go continue reading his books while she made dinner. He nodded sadly and walked back to his room.

Matt went back to his book and turned the page to where the prince was held captive by the wicked witch. He flipped to the next page where the knight was coming in to save the prince from the evil witch and her dragon. The young blonde started to feel very sad and started to cry a little bit.

"I'll save you, S-Sir Tai," he quietly said to the book. "I'll s-save you from the w-wicked witch, Sora. B-But right now…I have to wait t-to see w-what happens with us." Matt closed the book and put it away, before curling up in his bed and continuing to cry because of the sadness he felt in his heart.

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><p><em>"So sad to be all alone in the world"...Quote from Thoroughly Modern Millie...I own nothing...<br>_

_Please let me know what you think!_


	9. 8: Love's Melody

**_NOTE: _**_Wait what? Psycho has finally come back and updated this story? D:_

_Indeed! 'Tis I! After battling through college midterms and homework, I finally got a chance to sit down and work on the story! Other than school, there were some things I felt needed to happen before the rest of the story could happen. Hopefully, I did it's justice...Enjoy! ^_^_**_  
><em>**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8. Love's Melody<strong>

"Grandma!" the young Ishida boys cheered and raced to greet the elderly woman at the door. Their grandmother bent down to embrace each of the boys.

"Hello children!" Grandma Takaishi smiled and looked down at them. "My! How much you've both grown!"

"Hi Mom," Matt and T.K.'s mother greeted and hugged the elderly woman. "Did Dad come too, or are you here on your own?"

"Oh your father is here too," she gestured behind her. "But you know how he is. Always stopping to chat it up with whoever passes him by."

"I heard that Lisa," an elderly man called out from the hall way. Mother and daughter giggled as Matt squirmed his way past them and looked down the hall. The older man was walking down the hall and was holding a small bag in his hand.

"Grandpa!" Matt yipped in happiness. He charged forward and hugged his grandfather's legs tightly.

"Whoa!" the elder man laughed and hugged the young blonde tightly. T.K. came following after his older brother and joined the group hug. "Hey there kids!" He led the brothers back into the apartment. "Hello Nancy."

"Hi Dad. How was the trip?"

"Oh, not too bad. The subway seems to be getting slower and slower, but what can you do?" The elder man turned back to the young children staring at the bag with curiosity. "Have you boys been nice to your Mommy?"

"Yes!" they both answered. The couple smiled at each other.

"Well, this bag here is for T.K.," Grandma Takaishi explained, handing the bag to the young boy. "It's a bunch of new colorful blocks." T.K. stared into the bag and pulled out a bright red block. He gasped at the brightness of the block and then started rummaging through the rest of the bag to see the rest of the colorful blocks.

"And this here," Grandpa Takaishi continued. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, dark blue, rectangle case. "Is for Matt." The older man opened the case and revealed a shiny metal rectangle inside. Matt stared in awe at his reflection from the small rectangle. He picked it up and saw that there were small holes on one side of it.

"Wow!" Matt said, examining the object closely. "…what is it?"

"It's called a harmonica," his grandfather explained. "And with this harmonica, you can express how you feel. Like, if you're happy, you can make your song sound happy. If you're sad, then you can make your song sound sad." He took the object and blew into the holes. A small happy melody rang out from the instrument and Matt grinned widely. Grandpa Takaishi placed the harmonica back into his hands. "I know how much you like the music I make Matt, so I decided to give you something that you can make your own music."

"What do you say kids?" Matt and T.K.'s mother said.

"Thank you!" T.K. grinned and quickly hugged both of his grandparents.

"Thanks Grandpa," Matt smiled at the harmonica in his hands and then gave his grandfather a big hug. He then went over to his grandmother and hugged her too. "Thanks Grandma."

The adults went to the kitchen and continued their conversation there, while the two brothers started playing with their new presents. T.K. set himself to work on a castle made completely out of his new blocks, while Matt went to sit by the window with his harmonica. Matt wanted to make great music like what his grandfather made, but every time he tried, it just sounded funny.

The young blonde took a short break and watched his younger brother's progress on his castle. The younger boy was having struggles in getting some blocks to stay, but he'd simply keep trying to make them work. Matt smiled and gently blew a few notes, trying to see if he could make a song out of it. If something sounded really off, he'd simply try a new hole to blow on. Slowly, he started placing all the notes together in short melodies, like his grandfather had done before. Matt smiled at his progress.

Suddenly he heard the sound of blocks tumbling over, which soon followed with a loud wail from his younger brother. Matt stopped blowing and saw T.K. face down on the floor and crying. Matt placed the harmonica in his pocket, then stood and walked over to the crying child. He gently picked up his younger brother and smiled at him. Upon feeling his brother, T.K. stopped crying and looked up at him intently.

"Atta boy!" Matt smiled. T.K. continued to stare at him.

Suddenly, the phone rang and the two boys jumped slightly. Matt left his brother sitting on the ground and went to go answer it.

"Hello?" he spoke into it.

"Hi is Matt there?" a little boy spoke into the phone.

"This is him."

"Matt! It's me! Tai!" Tai? _Tai_ was calling him?

"Tai!" Matt gasped happily.

"Matt? How come you don't come and play with me and Mimi anymore?"

"Because I was supposed to be waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"To think about things and see what happens. That's what my mommy told me."

"Oh…For how long?"

"Huh?"

"How long have you been waiting?" Matt opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it. Matt didn't know how long this waiting had been going on for, but it felt like forever! There had been a few times where Mimi would stop by and ask Matt if he could go and play with them. However, doing what his mother asked of him, and seeing that Tai was never there to ask with Mimi, he simply said he had to wait at home.

"For a really long time," the blonde finally answered.

"Oh," the young brunette simply said. Matt felt very happy to be talking to his husband once again. "I've missed playing with you Matt."

"Me too Tai," Matt sighed sadly.

"Can you play right now?" he asked. Matt looked at his younger brother, who was now rebuilding his castle, and then at the kitchen where the adults would be.

"I don't think so," the blonde frowned. "My grandma and grandpa from the United States are visiting right now."

"Oh…ok…" Tai sounded very sad. Matt tried to think of someway the two could be together again…but nothing was coming to mind.

"But," Matt started to offer. "Maybe…if I go out and play for a little while, they won't know that I was gone."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure." There was a short pause between their conversation.

"Ok Matt," the daring knight finally said. "If you're really sure, then I'll see you at the park."

**oXoXoXoXo**

A little while turned out to be the whole afternoon and into the night. The two boys played together on the jungle gym, in the field and everywhere in between. Matt was so happy to be with his best friend, and husband, again. All of this waiting made their reunion sweeter than any candy he had ever tasted. The two of them were now laying on the field and looking up at the stars.

"Look Tai!" Matt exclaimed and pointed up to one part of the sky. "Those stars look like a doggy!"

"Wow! Yeah!" Tai gasped in awe. He then pointed up into a different part of the sky. "That one right there looks like a big orange dinosaur!" Matt looked up at the area of stars that Tai was pointing at.

"How can you tell it's orange?" the blonde asked, seeing the dinosaur, but not the orange part.

"Because I made it up so that it was orange," Tai beamed. Matt giggled at his friend's logic and continued to look for more stars. Suddenly, Matt remembered the present his grandfather had given him earlier.

"Hey Tai," Matt grinned as he sat up. "I want to show you something!" Tai sat up too as Matt started pulling out the harmonica from his pocket. The brunette stared curiously at the small rectangle in Matt's hand. Matt smiled, placed the harmonica to his lips and started blowing the soft melodies that he had created earlier. Tai grinned widely as he listened to his husband's music.

"That's so cool Matt!" Tai applauded once Matt finished. "Where did you get that?"

"My grandpa gave it to me when he came to visit us," Matt smiled and placed the harmonica back in his pocket.

"That's a really cool present," the brunette said. "Oh! That reminds me! Sora told me that she was going to have a birthday party!"

"Really?" Matt frowned. Tai nodded.

"Yeah, she's going to have the party right here in the park. And there's going to be cake and ice cream and hot dogs and we'll play soccer and tag and…" Tai stopped and stared at his friend. "Are you ok Matt?" The blonde stayed quiet. "Matt?"

"I think Sora is a witch, Tai," Matt muttered. Tai stared at his friend.

"Why?" he asked. Matt took a deep breath in before starting his explanation.

"Because in my story, there's a knight and a prince and they're the best of friends. But then they get sent on a secret mission by the queen to stop a wicked witch. The wicked witch finds out about the plan and then sends her evil dragon to stop them. The prince goes with the dragon to save his friend and then is taken to the witch's evil hide out, where soon the knight follows and defeats the evil witch and his dragon. But the reason why I say Sora is a witch is because she is making us separate and not letting us play with one another." Matt sighed deeply, having almost run out of breath. Tai blinked in surprise. "And also, Sora and the witch also has red hair."

"…Matt, Sora is my friend too," Tai frowned. Matt felt kind of sad that his knight called the evil witch a friend too.

"I know she is," Matt muttered in defeat. He looked down at the ground.

"But…that doesn't mean that you're not my friend either." Tai placed a hand on top of Matt's. "Or that you're not my husband anymore…I still love you Matt." The young blonde stared wide-eyed at the brunette.

"Love?" Matt said quietly.

"Mm-hmm," Tai nodded and kissed Matt on the cheek.

"…I love you too, Tai," Matt blushed. They sat there smiling at each other, and then went back to staring up at the stars.

"Matt!" The two boys sat back up and looked to the direction of where the shout came from. Matt saw his parents wandering the park and calling out his name. The boys stood and ran over to the blonde's parents.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Matt called back. Upon seeing her son, Matt's mother ran to him and embraced him tightly. Matt hugged back as his father ran over to the two of them. Tai stayed back and allowed the reunion to happen.

"Oh Matt!" she whispered. "I was so worried!" She hugged him tightly, then pulled back and started at him hard. "What are you doing out here so late at night? And why didn't you bother to tell me you were coming out here in the first place!"

"I'm sorry Mommy," Matt frowned.

"Do you know how worried sick your father and I were when we couldn't find you?"

"I just came out here to play with Tai." His mother looked up to the brunette and back down at her son. "I know you told me I had to wait to see what happens…but we really missed each other and—"

"It's alright son," Matt's father interrupted. His mother looked up at him.

"No it is not alright Hiro," she said as she stood back up. "Matt has been gone the whole afternoon and it's night time right now."

"Well he's alright now," he motioned to the boy. "He wasn't hurt or killed or anything."

"But what if he was? We would have had no idea what would have happened to him."

"Oh come on Nancy. This is a safe neighborhood."

"You never know Hiro!"

"Um…Matt's Mommy?" The bickering parents looked down at brunette who stood next to Matt. "It's my fault that Matt came out without saying anything. Please don't be mad at him." Matt's parents looked at each other then back at the boys.

"We're not mad," Matt's father smiled.

"That's right," his mother sighed. "We were just very worried." She looked back at her son. "But, you are grounded Matt. For sneaking out and not saying anything." Matt lowered his head and nodded sadly. Tai took hold of Matt's hand for a moment. "Well…my parents are back at the apartment watching over T.K., so we should head back."

"Right. I'll take Tai home first," Matt's father said. He took the brunette's free and started to lead him away. Matt's mother took Matt's had and led him back to the apartment. The two young boys held on to each other for as long as they could, and then sadly watched as the other left the opposite way they were going.

* * *

><p><em>Hmm...Interesting how listening to "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" actually helps me to write when it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story. XD<em>

_So, please let me know what you think. It really helps me out as an author and I love hearing from you as the readers! :)_

_(Oh...P.S. In case you didn't catch it, the harmonica is NOT the item Matt gave to Tai in the prologue. Here are a couple of hints to what it might be though...1. It's something you wouldn't really expect. 2. It's briefly mentioned in this chapter. Yep..."And it's so easy when your evil!" Mwa-ha-ha! Ahem...good luck guessing. ;) )_


	10. 9: Magic vs Science

**_NOTE:_**_ Woo! Another updated chapter! :D At this point, we're starting to get in more serious chapters and also towards the end of the story. Fear not though, we've still got at least five chapters or so...*tries to count them out* Oh well. There's still a bit that needs to happen. ^_^_

_PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE LAME CHAPTER TITLE BEHIND THE NUMBER! :P  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter 9. Magic vs. Science<strong>

"I'm home!"

"Hello son," Hiroaki called out to his son from the table. He was reviewing some important papers from the T.V. station, while Nancy was cleaning up the remains of their dinner. Matt walked into the room, little party favor in hand, and went to his father.

"Did you have fun at the party?" Nancy asked. Hiroaki picked up his son and sat him on his lap.

"Yes it was fun," Matt nodded. "Tai threw up in Sora's hat!"

"What?" Matt's parents both echoed.

"Yeah!" Matt giggled. "It was funny to see the look on her face."

"Why did he throw up in her hat?" Nancy gasped.

"Well, Tai was feeling kind of sick and I couldn't find anything where he could throw up in. I saw Sora's hat lying on the table, and told him. He just took it and threw up!"

"Oh dear," Nancy sighed. "What did she say after?

"We don't know," Matt shrugged. "After she put it on and screamed, we ran out of the park and went home. It was funny to hear a witch's scream."

"Matt, I've told you," Nancy sighed as Hiroaki chuckled. "Sora is not a witch."

"But she is mommy!" Matt argued. "She's not a nice girl!"

"Why do you say that?" Hiroaki questioned. "Was she mean to you?"

"Well…no," the young blonde muttered. "But she said something that made me sad."

"What did she tell you?"

"…She told me that she likes Tai."

"Sometimes little girls just end up liking little boys son," Hiroaki explained.

"But this is different," Matt shook his head. "Because…Tai is my knight and…I love him…" Hiroaki blinked in surprise.

"You…like Tai?" he asked slowly.

"No…I love him." A heavy silence lingered in the air for a long while.

"Matt, why don't you go tell your brother that it's time to get ready for bed?" Nancy suggested. Matt nodded, hopped off of his father's lap and went to go get himself ready for bed. Hiroaki looked over at his wife. Just as he had thought, she had a terrified expression on her face.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," she smiled. She went back to finishing up the last few dishes and Hiroaki decided to take a short break and check on Matt and T.K's bed time progress. The older brother was teaching the younger one how to squeeze tooth paste out of the tube and successfully place the paste on the tooth brush. He smiled at his two sons as they started brushing before returning to the kitchen area. His wife had her back to him and was talking quietly on the phone. As he got closer, he started catching a few words that his wife was saying.

"How much did you say it costs?" she asked quietly in the phone. A slight pause. "Well, that's quite a bit for…Yes. Yes, I understand the consequence. I do want to ask one thing though…will this school really help?" It wasn't making sense to the older man, until she said the next sentence. "Will it make my son stop thinking he's gay?" Hiroaki didn't really like what he was hearing. He extended his hand and pressed on the button to end the call, long and hard. "I just…hello? Hello?" She turned and jumped at the sight of her husband standing next to the phone.

"Hiro," she gasped and placed the phone back. "You…startled me."

"Who was that?" he growled.

"Um…it was nothing."

"Don't lie to me Nancy. Who did you call?"

"I mean it Hiro, it really was nothing."

"Then why did I startle you?"

"Because you crept up on me while I was making a phone call."

"It wouldn't have been a big deal if was something you didn't mind sharing with me. Now who was it?"

"…It was just a private school that was wondering if they could enlist Matt in their program."

"What was the name?" She didn't reply. "Nancy."

"…it's called North Oak."

"North Oak?" Nancy nodded and Hiroaki could feel his anger starting to rise. "You mean that school that claims to help 'troubled' boys?"

"Well they said they don't just help troubled boys…"

"Nancy! How could you even _consider _sending our son to a school like that? Do you know what sort of things could go on in there? He could get hurt!"

"I don't believe that."

"What?"

"I said: 'I don't believe that!' I've heard from other people that their system is quite safe and that the boys that go in there come out completely changed!"

"Well good for them, but our son doesn't need to be changed!"

"Yes he does Hiro!"

"Why? Just because you're scared that you might really have a gay son?"

"No! That's not it!"

"Then why would you want to send him there?"

"Because they were asking if we wanted to enlist Matt into that school!" Hiroaki inhaled deeply and exhaled through his nose. Every night it seemed like it was the same thing. Nancy was overly protective and worried about her son's well-being when there really was no need of that. She was always worrying about them getting a terrible sickness, or getting kidnapped in the middle of the night. There was no room for going with the flow in her mind.

"You're so full of it."

"Excuse me?"

"You want everything to be absolutely perfect and you can't accept anything that isn't."

"That's not true!"

"Then why is it such a big deal whether Matt is gay or not?"

"Because what if something happened to him? Like, if someone beats him up for being gay?"

"He's only a child! You shouldn't be worrying about these sort of things yet!" Nancy stared at her husband, long and hard. Tears were threatening to fall down her face, but she kept her ground.

"You don't know what it's like going out there and interviewing the family of a homosexual victim," she whispered. "Seeing the pain in their eyes and the sorrow in their homes. They always say that they wish there was something they could do to bring their child back. I don't want that to happen to us, Hiro. I don't want us wishing there was something we could do to bring Matt or T.K. back." Hiroaki looked at his wife, slightly regretting what he said earlier.

"I understand where you're coming from Nancy," he sighed. "I really do…But the way you want to handle this situation…it's not right."

"What should we do then?" Hiroaki thought for a moment.

"Let him grow up as a normal child," he finally said. "Once he gets older, it'll be his decision on whether he wants to be open about his sexuality or not."

"And what if some gang beats him up?" his wife slightly challenged. "Then what?"

"We just explain to him that this is all part of growing up."

"Getting beaten up is not part of growing up, Hiro. Unless you live in a really rough neighborhood, in which case we don't."

"Nancy, Matt can deal with it."

"No he can't."

"Nancy—"

"Matt is very sensitive! You didn't see how upset he was the day he told me Tai didn't want to play with him."

"I'm sure he'll get over it."

"I can't believe how insensitive you are being with this!"

"It's really not a big deal Nancy!"

"The possibility that your son may die isn't a big deal?"

"We already went through a scare like this before! So why should we treat this any differently?" They stared at each other. Nancy slowly shook her head and move to the couch and sat down. Hiroaki, realizing that he had just opened a painful wound, sighed and went to his wife. "I'm sorry Nancy. I…" She shook her head again and tried to hide the silent tears that were starting to fall. He watched her for a moment, then sat next to her. "You know…it still hurts and scares me too. How close we come to almost losing T.K…I remember how he was so small. And his illness just made everything so much harder…his little body couldn't keep up…"

"We spent three months in the hospital," Nancy whispered. "To make sure our son would live…I don't want to go through that again Hiro."

"I don't either," he murmured. "But what can we do?" The couple sat in silence, trying to figure out any, if at all, possible solution to their present predicament.

"I've heard that if someone chooses to be homosexual," Nancy started. "It's because they went through something traumatic in their life…Maybe, something happened to Matt that we don't know about. We could take him to some counseling or something."

"I don't think anything has happened to Matt," Hiro shook his head. "And I also don't believe homosexuality is a choice. It's something that is in your DNA."

"That sounds ridiculous," Nancy said.

"It's not ridiculous, it's science."

"So because some scientist says that it's true you're going to automatically believe that's the reason for all cases like that?"

"Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

"Yes, because science can be wrong sometimes!"

"Name one time that it was wrong!"

"Well I can't think of any right now, but I'm sure there has—"

"Ah-ha! You can't think of any because there hasn't been any! Just admit that you're wrong!" Nancy and Hiroaki stared at each other.

"Maybe I am wrong," Nancy muttered. "But I also don't believe that you are completely right. And I also don't think it's right that you are willing to let our son go through this pain. If there is some way we can help him or prevent it, I say we try." Her husband narrowed his eyes slightly at her.

"You do anything like sending him to that school Nancy," Hiroaki growled warningly. "And I'll make sure that your life is hell." Hiroaki turned and left to their bedroom, hearing the small gasp from his wife, but not caring enough to look back.

* * *

><p><em>...Pretty sure this chapter could have gone a lot better...but I suck at arguing, so it'd be logical if their argument was slightly off at times. -_- As for the last bit, I tried making Hiro a little jerk-ish so that people wouldn't be so angry at Nancy...don't be hating on either of them either way. :(<br>_

_In other news, it would be great if you left me a review on what you thought about this chapter. _:)

_Until next time..."DON'T! STOP! BELIEVING!"_


	11. 10: The Dragon Attacks

_NOTE:__ This is where I think things start to pick up...and also where it starts heading into the final chapters of the story. ^_^;_

_I had a LOT of fun writing this chapter! So far, it's been one of my faves and I hope I did it justice. :3 Hope ya'll enjoy it!  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10. The Dragon Attacks<strong>

Matt looked around the empty field and sighed. He and Tai were supposed to come to the park and play soccer together. However, the young brunette was nowhere to be seen. Matt kicked a rock out of the way and then laid down on the grass. Months had passed since Sora told Matt that she liked Tai, and it was still bothering him. It wasn't fair that she liked Tai…Tai was his knight and husband. He couldn't be anyone else's.

"What are you doing Matt?" The young blonde shielded his eyes from the sun to see who had spoken to him. Queen Mimi hovered over him and blinked curiously.

"I'm just thinking," he sighed and sat up. The young girl plopped herself next to the young prince and looked at him.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked intently.

"I don't know," Matt shrugged. "Lots of things."

"Where is Sir Tai?" Mimi asked, looking around. "Weren't we all supposed to play soccer today?"

"…I don't know…" Matt muttered. "He said he'd be here…but he's not." Matt started pulling grass up from the ground. "Mimi?"

"Yeah?" she answered, watching a butterfly that was nearby.

"…You know how Tai and I got married?"

"Yes."

"Well…what happens if he stops liking me?" Mimi stared at him, rather surprised. "What if…he starts liking someone else?" Mimi stared at him a moment longer without saying anything. Matt blushed then continued plucking the grass to make a large pile.

"I don't know Matt," the young girl finally said. She started picking grass and dumping it on Matt's pile. "I've never heard of something like this happening. It doesn't usually happen in the story books."

"Yeah," the blonde sighed. "I know it doesn't." They continued picking grass until the pile grew to the size of a basketball.

"I think all you shouldn't give up on Tai," Mimi dusted off her hands as she spoke. "He can be really stupid sometimes. You've just gotta wait until he gets smart again. Ok?"

"Yeah," Matt smiled slightly and smashed the pile of grass down. "I guess you're right Mimi."

**oXoXoXoXo**

"No! That's not right!"

"Well we're going to have to do something!"

"We can figure something else out!

"It's either we do that, or—"

"There has to be another way!"

Matt lifted his head and blinked groggily at the door. He had just been awakened by his parents arguing…again. They used to argue for short periods of time, but now, their shouting matches would go clear into the night. Matt looked at his younger brother to see if he was still asleep next to his side.

"They're fighting again?" T.K. whispered. Apparently he was not anymore.

"Yes," Matt sighed. "Don't worry though, I'm sure they'll go to sleep soon…Did they wake you up?"

"Yes," T.K. yawned. "Why do they keep on fighting Matt?"

"I don't know," Matt murmured sadly. "I wish I did though, so then I could fix it and then they'd stop."

"Yeah, it's starting to hurt my ears."

"Me too." The two brothers listened to their parents fight some more. They had lowered their tones, but it was obvious that they were still angry.

"Matt?" T.K. whispered. "It scares me when they fight."

"Don't be scared T.K.," Matt smiled. "Everyone fights sometimes. Even you and me."

"Yeah but…that's different," T.K. sighed. Matt frowned as he heard his younger brother start to sniffle.

"Aw, don't cry T.K.," the elder murmured. He wrapped his arms around his younger brother and hugged him. "It's going to be ok. I'll be here to protect you."

"Promise?" T.K. sniffed.

"Always."

"Ok…thanks Matt. That makes me feel better and that everything is going to be ok." Matt could feel T.K.'s small arms wrap around him and he hugged back. Matt smiled and closed his eyes, his parent's angry voices seeming nothing but a quiet wind in the air.

**oXoXoXoXo**

"Matt! Wake up!" Matt slowly opened his eyes and sat up. T.K. sat near the window and looked out intently.

"What are you doing T.K.?" Matt yawned. T.K. looked at his brother and touched the glass.

"There's an egg outside!" he exclaimed. Matt blinked at his brother.

"What?" Matt hurried next to his brother and opened the window. He looked up at the sky and saw a strange looking shape of light above. The blonde quickly ran over to the dresser and picked up a pair of binoculars that his father had given him a while ago. He ran back to the window and looked through the binoculars. The light had formed itself to resemble the shape of an egg, like T.K. had said.

Suddenly, there was a bright white flash of light. Matt and T.K. shielded their eyes from the light and then quickly looked back once it passed. A strange creature fell from the sky and started gliding around. It flew past some buildings, and suddenly, three fire balls came out of thin air and nearly missed the creature. The creature flew right by the Ishida brother's window and caused both of them to duck from the gust of air it created. Their heads quickly popped back up and they watched the creature fly towards one of the road bridge. Another fire ball was shot at the creature, which Matt decided looked like a bird, and once again it missed.

Matt looked closely at the bird through his binoculars. It was a very large green bird. It had two large red feathers sticking up from its head and…hands. Not only did it have two wings, but it had two arms as well. Everything else made it seem like an ordinary bird.

"What is it doing Matt?" T.K. asked in hushed excitement.

"I'm not sure T.K.," Matt muttered. The bird was staring at something straight ahead of it. It didn't make any sign of moving or flying away.

"Pepper flame!" a voice boomed out. Matt jumped when a fire ball shot out of nowhere and hit the bird straight on the head. Smoke exploded from the hit.

"Whoa! It got it!" Matt and T.K. gasped together. Once the smoke cleared, it showed that the bird had been unharmed. Matt looked through his binoculars again and saw that on the bird's head, it had a metal plate on it. What kind of bird has metal on its head?

"My turn!" the bird laughed. "Static destroyer!" A shot of electricity shot out of the two red feathers and went charging through the air. It hit a bridge just on the opposite side of it and exploded before it went tumbling down. The Ishida brothers gasped at the sight.

"He's toast," Matt muttered.

"Matt look!" T.K. yipped. The elder blonde looked up and saw the buildings around them going crazy. Their lights were flickering on and off, and even the street lights were going weird too. Matt glanced at the clock in their room. The numbers were running through the time over and over before it shut off. In fact, all of the lights suddenly shut off. A loud snarl echoed from the street, and Matt quickly looked back at the fight.

On the opposite side of the bird creature, there was something crouched down on the ground. It was snarling at the parrot and it seemed like it was protecting something. Smoke still rose from the fallen bridge and so it made it difficult to determine what exactly was the new creature on the ground. It grumbled something, waited, then roared before standing up and charging.

The new creature was large and orange. Blue stripes ran down its back and it had razor sharp claws. Matt would have thought it was a dinosaur…had it not been for the strange brown helmet it wore on its head. That helmet had two large horns behind its eyes and a large horn where his nose should have been. The more Matt looked at it, the more it resembled…

"A dragon!" Matt gasped.

"What?" T.K. exclaimed. "I wanna see!" The elder brother let his younger brother take the binoculars. He looked through them intently and Matt continued to stare at awe at the large dragon in front of them.

"Nova flame!" the dragon roared. A bright light came flying out of the dragon's mouth and went flying to the bird. The bird squawked in agony and went crashing to the ground.

"Cool!" Matt said. He never saw a dragon battle before.

As the bird stood, the dragon went charging at it to attack. The dragon head butted the bird, which squawked in pain and tried fighting back. The bird and dragon clasped claws and started wrestling each other to gain the upper hand. For a while, it seemed as though the dragon would win, but soon the bird was pushing it away from him. The green creature grabbed the orange one by the neck and threw it to the ground. The dragon quickly stood up and blocked the next hit the bird was about to give him. They wrestled once again, and this time, the bird was able to push the dragon hard enough so that it fell on the ground. The orange dragon rolled on the ground and snarled at the bird.

"Static destroyer!" the bird screamed. Another shot of electricity shot from its head and hit the orange dragon. A large blast of smoke erupted, soon followed by a loud crash. The smoke hung around for a while and the bird waited patiently. Once the smoke started clearing up, it revealed the dragon lying on the ground, not moving at all. The bird chuckled wickedly and started walking towards the dragon.

"He's going to be ok," T.K. suddenly said.

"Huh?" Matt looked down at his brother. T.K. looked down at the dragon.

"He's going to be ok," he repeated. "He's just pretending to be hurt so that he can jump on the mean birdie!" Matt stared at his brother for a while, and then at the bird through his binoculars. Electric sparks came out from the bird, threatening to strike the dragon once more.

Suddenly, a loud whistle rang out. It was long and high pitched. The Ishida brothers looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

"Look!" T.K. pointed. Matt pinpointed the area where he was gesturing with his binoculars. The source of the whistle was next to the orange dragon. Suddenly, it came clear to him that it was someone blowing on a whistle. And that person was none other than his knight.

"Tai," Matt gasped. "Tai is out there!" The whistle finally came to an end, and everyone waited anxiously to see what would happen next. The dragon's eyes snapped open and caused confusion to the bird creature. The orange dragon jumped up to its feet and charged at the bird. It threw its head back and let out an enormous roar.

"NOVA FLAME!" The dragon let out a large force of light and fire from its mouth and it crashed right into the bird. As the bird cried out in agony and the dragon continued to breath out its attack, the light grew brighter and brighter, until suddenly, everything went white. Matt shielded his eyes from the bright, sun like glow and shut his eyes tightly.

"GREYMON!" Matt slowly opened his eyes and looked out into the street. The sun was starting to rise from the horizon and the street was covered in rubble and debris. There was no sign of the large bird or the dragon anywhere. "GREYMON! DON'T YOU WANNA PLAY HORSEY WITH ME ANYMORE? WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Matt! It's Kari!" T.K. gasped. Matt looked at the small dot in the road, which he only assumed was Kari. Not too far away from her, was her older brother Tai. Matt quickly got up from the bed and ran to the door. "Matt where are you going?" The blonde ran out of the room and straight for the main door. He tried opening it, but it got caught with the chain lock. Matt stood on his tip toes to reach it, but it was no use. He was too short.

"Matt, what are you doing?" Matt turned and saw his father lying on the couch.

"Daddy! I need to go outside!" Matt explained as he tried reaching for the chain lock again.

"Matt, it's too early for you to go out now," his father yawned and sat up.

"But Daddy—"

"Besides, you can't go outside in your PJ's." Matt looked down at his pajamas then hurried back to his room to change. T.K. was still staring out at the window intently, as Matt scrambled to get on his favorite blue shirt and brown shorts. After slipping on some miss matching socks, Matt ran for the door once again. He grabbed the door handle, threw the door open, as much as it would open, and started yanking on the door handle repeatedly.

"HEY!" Matt's father stood up quickly and shut the door. "You're going to break it if you keep doing that!"

"Please Daddy?" Matt whimpered. "I have to go outside right now! Tai is out there!"

"Tai? What is he doing outside so early?"

"I don't know…but I have to go see if he's ok!" Matt's father stared down at his son, who was starting to tear up slightly. He needed to get out there and see if Tai was hurt by the dragon or not. If he was hurt, then it was up to Matt to help him. "Please Daddy?" His father stared at him a moment longer, and the young blonde worried that he wouldn't be able to see his knight. Suddenly, the older man lifted his hand up to the chain and unlocked the door. He opened the door for his son.

"Be careful," he muttered.

"Thanks Daddy!" Matt smiled and ran out of the apartment. He ran down the hall and took the elevator to the main floor. After what seemed like forever, he exited the elevator and looked for Tai.

The sun was now fully up and people were starting to appear in the street to see the damage that was taken place. Matt ran up to the street where the bird and dragon fought and looked for the young brunette. There was no sign of Tai anywhere.

"MATT!" The blonde looked down the street and saw Tai waving to him.

"TAI!" Matt cried out and ran to him. Before he got even half way, an older man in a police uniform stopped Matt in his tracks.

"Whoa there kiddo!" he said, stopping the child from reaching his friend. "You're not going in there."

"Let me go!" Matt grunted as he tried to wriggle away. "Tai is out there!" Matt finally jerked himself free and continued running to Tai. Adults were starting to surround the brunette and his sister. Matt's legs were starting to get tired, but he knew he had to make sure that his knight, his husband, was safe. "Tai!" By the time the young boy was close enough to Tai, there was large group of adults and children alike surrounding him. Matt tried to find a way through the mass of people, but it was difficult with all of them moving around and creating a ruckus. Finally, he simply pushed himself through a pair of legs and started fighting his way to the center.

As Matt pushed onward through the crowd, he would call out his friend's name but it was in vain due to the many questions from the surrounding adults around him. The young blonde grew excited when he saw a flash of wild brown hair not too far from him. As he got closer, he noticed that there was someone else that was next to Tai and Kari. He pushed through some more to get a better view on who it was. Only when he was only a person or two from Tai, he saw that it was a little red headed girl in her pajamas.

It was Sora. She was saying something to Tai, but Matt couldn't hear her because of the loud chatter from the group of adults. Matt watched in horror as Sora then kissed the boy he was so desperately trying to reach. It was only a few seconds, but no matter the time length, it still stung to watch it happen. Tai blushed and touched his mouth. Matt thought that he would wipe the kiss off, but no. He just let it happen.

"Tai?" Matt whispered quietly. The blonde's view was suddenly covered by a pair of legs, and slowly he felt himself getting pushed out of the crowd of people. Matt soon found himself outside of the circle of people and saw no way of getting back in to find Tai. More adults had gathered around the children, and in the distance, sirens were starting to become more audible. The young blonde stood alone in the middle of the street. He felt very sad…and mad.

Did he really see that happen? He just saw his knight…his husband, allow someone else kiss him. Why didn't he stop her? Did the young blonde no longer matter to him? Why did seeing this hurt so much?

"Come on son," the man in the police officer uniform came to Matt's side and nudged him away from the scene. "Let's get you home." Matt nodded and allowed the officer walk him back to the apartment.

**oXoXoXoXo**

Matt sat alone in his room as he continued to sulk the rest of the day. He didn't feel like eating, or playing, or doing much of anything, except play his harmonica. All he could think about was seeing the wicked witch giving his brave knight a kiss. It bothered Matt that Tai did absolutely nothing to stop her, and sad that he couldn't get to him at all. The young blonde sighed and decided to go and see if dinner was ready.

"But I really did see some monsters, Mommy." Matt stopped when he overheard T.K. trying to explain to his mother what he and his brother witnessed last night. Their mother didn't seem to believe him however, and the more T.K. tried to convince her it was real, the angrier she seemed to get. Finally, Matt gathered enough courage to confront his mother.

"I saw them too Mommy," the elder blonde spoke. His mother looked at him with a disapproving look. "It was a big green bird and an orange dragon."

"Sweetie," his mother sighed. "I've told you before, there are no such things as dragons."

"But…it was big and orange and had three horns on its head!"

"That's enough Matt."

"But it's true Mommy! You have to believe us!"

"I said: 'That's enough!'" Their discussion was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. The family looked towards the head of the home, who was now returning from work. He looked curiously at each of their faces.

"What's going on?" he murmured.

"T.K. and I saw a big huge dragon and bird last night, but Mommy won't believe us when we tell her," Matt responded.

"A dragon?" his father raised an eyebrow, quizzically. "Is that so?"

"Yeah! It was big and orange! It had a huge helmet head that was brown with three horns and blue stripes down—" Matt stopped when he saw that his father didn't look convinced…or even interested in the story. "You…don't believe me either…do you?"

"…I'm sorry Matt," his father sighed. Matt frowned.

"But…the road outside…" T.K. brought up.

"They say that it was just a military accident," he explained to his wife, before explaining to the young child. "That means, there were some airplanes that were flying around here and they accidentally hurt the road outside." T.K. didn't look convinced. "I'm sorry kids, but it is what it is." Matt's father reached out to pat his elder son on the head, but Matt shrank away. The young prince stared up at his father and mother for a moment, before retreating back to his room. He plopped himself on his bed and started to cry.

Matt felt so angry and sad and it made him want to explode from it all. Why people have to be so mean? Why couldn't his parents believe him and his brother? Why did Sora have to like Tai? Why did Tai let Sora kiss him like that? Matt felt like this was the most_ horrible_ day that had ever happen to him. He was convinced that things couldn't get possibly worse…

* * *

><p><em>Coincidentally...last night, I watched the guy I liked kiss another girl right in front of me...(It was for a show, which helps...but still...it sucks... -_-<em> )

_Well, enough about me! ^_^ Please let me know what you think about this chapter! :D_


	12. 11: Tears of an Angel

**_NOTE:_**_ First off, to all of you who have reviewed the last chapter, thank you so much! I'm sorry I couldn't reply to them personally, but there was something funky going on with the system...but thank you very much for your review!_

_I've been on a roll writing up these chapters. Why? Not sure...maybe because this was the moment I had been waiting for. ^_^_

__Speaking of which...This chapter is FINALLY going to reveal the item Matt gave to Tai in the prologue. WOO! Be excited people. ;) I just hope it does itself justice.__

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11. Tears of an Angel<strong>

"Matt, T.K.," their mother started. Matt sat next to his brother on the couch and looked at his parents intently. They sat in front of them and looked very serious, which made Matt rather nervous. "We need to talk to you boys." She bit her bottom lip nervously, and then looked at her husband. He nodded and took over.

"Mommy and I…we've decided to get a divorce," he said.

Divorce? Matt didn't like the sound of that.

"What is that?" T.K. asked.

"It means that Mommy and I decided not to be with each other anymore," he sighed.

"What?" Matt spat out.

"Boys, daddy and I have tried really hard to not fight anymore," their mother tried to explain. "But, we saw that things were not working out. We think it would be better for everyone if we lived in different houses."

"We love you two very much," their father picked up. "And this is not your fault, you need to know that. But the thing is: mommy and I don't love each other anymore." The young family sat in silence.

"I don't like this," T.K. pouted.

"We know this is hard on you kids," their father said. "But just know that we will still love you." He then turned and looked at his wife, a little more coldly. "No matter what." Matt stared at both of his parents. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and ran to the door.

"Matt!" his mother called. The young blonde threw the door open and ran out.

"Matt, please come back!" his father called out, but Matt didn't care. He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't believe it. How could this happen? He knew that they were fighting a lot more than before, but he and T.K. fought too! It wasn't fair! This couldn't happen!

Matt continued to run, not really sure where he was going and finding himself not really caring either. He ran and ran, until he felt like his little heart was about to explode from exhaustion. Finally, he slowed down and tried to catch his breath. He looked around and saw that he was in the playground. There was no one around, which was totally fine to Matt. He didn't really want to be with anyone right now.

The small blonde tried to fight the tears that were starting to fall down his face as he started climbing the jungle gym. He crawled through the tunnel where he found Tai so long ago crying about his sister. Once he reached the center of the tunnel, he pulled his legs up to his chest, and buried his face in his knees.

"It's not fair!" he whimpered. "It's not fair!" He repeated that over and over again. He wished that things could just go back to the way they were before. Before his parents started fighting. Before the dragon attacked. Before…

"Matt?" The blonde flinched when he heard the familiar voice echo from the tunnel. He slowly lifted his head and saw Tai crawling towards him in the tunnel. The memory of watching Sora kiss Tai came flooding back into Matt's memory and he buried his face in his knees again. "Matt, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Matt lied.

"Did Bobby beat you up?" Tai asked, obviously not buying what he had said.

"No," Matt muttered. "It's nothing, really." The blonde looked back up at the brunette, who still looked very worried. He looked like he was struggling to tell something to him, and it was making Matt nervous. "How come you're here Tai?"

"Well…I was looking for you," Tai murmured. "Because…I need to tell you something." Matt's heart was starting to feel very scared.

"What?" he asked slowly. Tai opened his mouth, but then closed it. "What is it Tai?" Tai stared at Matt long and hard, sorrow filling his eyes.

"…my family is moving," he finally whispered. Matt gasped at the news.

"…W-where?" Matt barely whimpered.

"I…I don't know…Odaiba I think…" Tai shrugged. Both Matt's stomach and heart dropped at the news. Odaiba? That place was so far away!

"Why are you leaving?" Matt asked.

"Kari got sick again," Tai frowned. "Really sick, and the only way the doctor said she can be better is if we take her to a special hospital. But the hospital is far away, and Daddy said it's better if we just move closer incase anything happens." Matt stared at the ground, trying to take in everything he was hearing. "I tried telling Mimi, but when I went to go visit her apartment, she was gone."

"Gone?" Matt gasped. "Mimi is gone?"

"Yeah! The new people that lived there said they left after the—" Tai stopped himself, and then thought of what to say next. "…After the airplanes accidently hurt the roads next to the apartments." The blonde pulled his legs close to his chest. First, he found out his mommy and daddy weren't going to live together anymore, then Tai said he was moving; now Mimi was gone too? "…Sora was sad when I told her too you know."

…What? Sora? _Sora _knew about all of this before _he _did? Why? Tai was Matt's husband! Not Sora's! Why was this happening? Why couldn't things be back to the way they were before? Matt closed his eyes and covered his ears.

'_It's not fair!' _he cried in his head. Tears were threatening to fall from his eyes. _'It's not fair! It's not fair!'_

"Matt? What are you doing? You look kind of funny—"

"Go away!" Matt spat. Tai stared at him in shock.

"Matt?" he said. "What's wrong?" He crawled forward and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Matt's eyes snapped open and he glared at the intruder.

"Don't touch me!" Matt growled and pushed the boy away. He scooted away from him and buried his face in his knees again. Tai was the last person he felt like talking to at that moment. He wanted to be with a witch instead of a prince.

"M-Matt…what's wrong?" Tai whispered. "Did I do something?" He scooted closer to Matt once again, and that made Matt angry. He pushed Tai away harder.

"Why did you let Sora kiss you?" Matt shouted out. The brunette stared at him in shock.

"You…you saw that?" he asked.

"I'm your husband!" Matt continued. "I thought we were supposed to love each other no matter what! But then, you let Sora kiss you! Why?"

"Matt…I'm…I'm sorry," Tai frowned. "I didn't know you were there."

"You shouldn't have let her kiss you anyways!"

"I'm sorry Matt!"

"Just go away!"

"Matt!"

"I hate you!" Matt raised his hands to push him again, but Tai caught both of them. The blonde tried to fight out of the other boy's clutch, but it was useless. Finally, Matt gave up and lowered his head.

"Matt?" Tai spoke.

"I hate you…" Matt whimpered softly.

"…I'm…really sorry Matt," Tai whispered. "I know it was bad for me to let her kiss me but…I'm sorry…I'm really, really sorry." Matt slowly looked up at the brave knight. Tai's brown eyes showed that he really felt terrible for what had happened. "…Please don't hate me…and please don't push me away again…" The young blonde stared at the brunette for a long while. Finally, he allowed his arms to go limp and he leaned into the other boy. Tai in return wrapped his arms around his young prince and held him tightly.

"I don't hate you…" Matt whispered. "I just hate all of this stuff that is happening…I…I'm sorry Tai." Tai nuzzled his face into the crook of Matt's neck and sighed.

"It's ok," Tai murmured. "…I have something for you, Matt." Tai let go of Matt and started searching his pockets. "Mommy said that I could give a sort of going away present to you." Matt curiously watched Tai as he searched for the item, then frowned.

"I'm sure you gave one to Sora too then, right?" Matt muttered. Tai paused momentarily and stared deeply into the blonde's eyes.

"No," he answered. "Only you." Tai continued his search, and finally, from his right pocket, he pulled out a small item.

The object was something Matt had not seen before. It had a silver ring and a small chain that was attached to a silver star, which dangled loosely at the end. Tai held the silver object with his fore finger and thumb and held it in front of Matt.

"…What is it?" Matt asked in awe.

"It's a star keychain," Tai explained. "Mommy said that I could pick something out that would remind you of me, and when I saw this, it made me think of the time we went to go look at the stars together."

"After I waited for you?"

"Yes." Matt smiled at the keychain and also of the memory. "Matt…I know that I haven't been the best husband ever…but I want to make you a promise, ok?"

"What Tai?" Matt asked. Tai took Matt's hand and placed the keychain in his palm. The brave knight stared into his prince's eyes.

"I promise…that as long as you hold on to this, I will remember you…" Tai gently made Matt close his hand around the star keychain. "…and love you." Matt stared down at his small fist, holding the object of promise, the stared up at Tai.

"Thank you Tai," Matt choked out. Tai gave a half smile before his lower lip began to tremble slightly. Finally, Matt couldn't hold it any longer. He wrapped his arms tightly around his love and started to cry. Tai held him tightly as well.

"Please don't cry Matt," Tai whimpered. "Or else…you'll make me start crying too!"

"I'm sorry!" Matt sobbed. "I just…I don't want you to leave because...because...I love you!"

"I love you too Matt!" Tai held his prince tighter and Matt could feel some tears falling on to his own shoulder.

**oXoXoXoXo**

**One Week Later…**

Matt sat next to his younger brother on the sofa, and waited for his dad to come back from loading the van. In just one week, their father managed to pack everything all up to move out. Before they announced the split to their children, their father had found a few places that he could stay in for a while. Their mother was going to do the same, but their father suggested that until she was financially stable on her own, she should stay in the apartment.

"Matt?" T.K. muttered. "Why is Daddy taking all of your stuff to the van too?"

"Because," Matt said. "I'm going to live with Daddy from now on, and you're going to stay with Mommy."

"Is this because of the thing they told us?" T.K. frowned.

"Yes," Matt murmured. Their father walked into the apartment once more, and Matt feared that he would say it was time to go. Instead, he went to the bedrooms and took out more boxes.

"Just these last few things Matt," he said to the eldest. "Then we'll be off." He disappeared once again and suddenly Matt got an idea.

"Come on!" Matt whispered as he took T.K. by the hand and led him to the door.

"Where are we going?" T.K. asked as he was led outside and down the hallway at a quick paced speed.

"We're running away!" Matt declared as they made it in to the elevator.

"Running away?" the younger brother gasped. The elevator descended and then opened up at the main floor. Matt took T.K.'s hand and led him to the park. "But what about Mommy and Daddy?"

"They will be too busy to notice," Matt grunted as they entered the park. "By the time they see that we're gone, we'll be far away! We can go to some faraway place where no one would find us!"

"But Matt, I'm getting tired already." Matt stopped and looked at his brother. He was panting and trying to catch his breath.

"Ok T.K.," the elder brother sighed. "We can take a break." T.K. smiled happily and plopped himself down on the closest seat, which was a swing on the swing set. Matt leaned against one of the poles and started thinking of places where they could stay while they ran away.

"Hey!" Matt looked up and saw a familiar group of boys head over towards the swing. "What do you think you're doing on our swing Pip-squeak?"

"I was just taking a break," T.K. smiled happily.

"Bobby, leave my brother alone," Matt glared. Bobby looked over at Matt.

"Well, if it isn't Mattie!" the leader of the older boys smirked. "And he's alone. What happened to that big haired freak of yours?" Matt clenched his teeth and said nothing. Bobby turned back to T.K. "Get off!"

"But I'm just taking a break," T.K. blinked in confusion. Bobby turned to the shorter one of his friends, who nodded and went behind the smaller blonde. With a mighty push, T.K. went crashing to the ground. "OW!" The older boys laughed and T.K.'s bottom lip started to tremble. "That really hurt!"

"What a cry baby!" the shorter kid of Bobby's gang laughed.

"Yeah! Just like Mattie here!" Bobby snickered and kicked some sand at T.K. The young boy covered his eyes and started to cry harder.

A spark was set off inside of Matt when he saw his baby brother being bullied by boys that were much older than him. He went charging right at the leader and knocked him to the ground. Matt lifted his small balled up fists and made them crash down on to the older boy. Bobby let out screams of pain but his two friends simply stood there, unsure of what to do. With each punch Matt gave to the older boy, the more his anger grew.

"MATT!" Two large hands pulled the angry blonde off of the older boy. Matt looked up to see his father dragging him away. He watched as Bobby sprang up and ran away crying, his two goons following closely behind. Matt was set down away from the playground and close by to where his mother and younger brother were. Matt's father stared down at his son. "Matt, I am very disappointed in you."

"B-But Daddy!" Matt started to protest.

"You know better than to start fighting with the other children."

"But Daddy, he—"

"Don't argue with me young man!" Matt opened his mouth to protest once again, but then closed it. It was no use in trying to say what happened or how he felt about all of this. "We shall talk about this later, alright?"

"…'kay," Matt murmured. His father stared at him for a while longer and slowly walked over to T.K. Matt's mother walked to Matt and lowered herself to his level.

"Matt," she spoke softly. "I want you to know…that I love you very much, ok?" Matt frowned at his mother, even though she smiled at him. If she loved him, why were they splitting up? Didn't she want him anymore? She hugged her son tightly and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Matt…And you will always be my little prince." His mother stood, and walked over to T.K. She took T.K.'s hand and started leading him back to the apartment, not looking back.

"Let's go Matt," his father grumbled grimly. He took Matt's hand and led him the opposite direction of his mother's. He also didn't look back. The only ones who did look back were the two brothers. One was confused to why he couldn't thank his savoir from the bullies, and the other saddened over the fact that he wasn't able to say good-bye.

Matt's father placed Matt in the van, buckled him in and then started the drive off to who knows where. The young blonde sadly watched the familiar apartments slowly passed by him and wished he could stay here. But he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't be the same without his parents being happy, or Mimi, or even Tai…

Their van pulled up to a stop light and they waited to turn left. Matt watched as a small car pulled up beside them and waited for the light to turn green so they could go straight. A man was sitting in the driver's seat, and behind him, sat a small child. The child pressed his face against the window and looked up at the van next to him. Suddenly, the two children made eye contact.

"Tai!" Matt gasped. Tai perked up when he saw his friend in the neighboring van and placed a hand on the window, as though he was trying to reach out to him. Matt placed his hand on the window as well and pressed his face against the window. If he could just touch Tai again, tell him that he would always love him…

The van started rolling towards the left and the small car started its journey forward. The young prince's heart sank deeper than ever before as he slowly watched his bushy haired, knight disappear from sight…forever.

* * *

><p><em>Ok, confession time...Star keychain? Yeah...kind of inspired by "Kingdom Heart" and their paupu fruit theorything. ^_^; "Tears of an Angel"? Big inspiration to this chapter and I highly recommend you go look up the song! Also, I probably could have made this chapter longer...but then it might have been TOO long. :P_

_Anyways, please let me know what you think of this chapter! Constructive criticism is super helpful as it helps me to fix things and keep things in mind for future stories! Thanks for reading!_


	13. 12: The Broken Oath

**_NOTE:_**_Man...seems like my inspiration is broken until I finish up this story. :P Here is the next chapter to "Untold Story." July has just ended and August is starting up. Please do enjoy this chapter. :3  
><em>

**_WARNING:_**_ Couple of "hells" are thrown in this chapter, which is probably the extent of swearing that this fic will go. Other than that, you should know by now that it's a Taito and there doesn't seem to be any other warnings. ;)_

**_DISCLAIMER:_**_ I do not own Digimon...in any shape or form...which makes me sad for most of the time. :(_**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 12. The Broken Oath<strong>

Years had passed, and Matt was no longer an innocent, playful, child. Instead, he was now a young adolescent…heading off to hell.

Since his family split, Matt had become more solitary and rarely mingled with other kids his own age. The fact that his father kept moving them around from city to city didn't help his case either but it wasn't like Matt was so gun-ho about making new friends. He figured, "Why should I go through the pain of friendship again when sooner or later, it means nothing?" Once they finally settled in their permanent apartment, Matt still refused to make friends. His father, rather concerned for the most part, decided to force his son into getting new friends by sending him to a summer camp (or as Matt liked to call it: "hell").

"You'll have a great time son," his father said cheerily as he drove to the rendezvous point where the children would meet before heading off in large buses to the camp site. "There will be wood shops, canoes, tents, fresh air—"

"Dad," Matt cut off. "Nothing you say is going to make this camp less agonizing." His father tapped his finger on the steering wheel for a moment.

"T.K. will be there too," he mentioned.

"I know," Matt shrugged and looked out the window. He had only seen his brother, maybe a total of two times since their parents split.

"Doesn't that make it seem a little better?" his father asked.

"I guess," the blonde sighed.

"And who knows? Maybe you'll be able to find Tai—"

"Dad, just…drop it…ok?" Matt's father muttered an "ok" and continued driving in silence. And to think…Matt was doing such a good job on not trying to think about the boy too much, if at all, this week. The memory of him and their past together…it was almost unbearable. Almost…but not quite.

Matt gently touched the items in his two front pockets. In his right pocket, was the harmonica his grandfather gave him, while in his left pocket, was the star key ring Tai gave to him. Tai promised that he would always love and remember Matt if he held on to that star…and so Matt promised that he would keep it always with him. Whenever he felt sad, or alone, he'd hold on to the keychain and think of the boy who made the promise. It made the memories a little better to deal with in that way.

The van finally pulled up to a large parking lot where children were scattered all over the place. There were three large white buses that were ready to load the children in when the time came. Parents were making sure that their children had everything they needed before they left on the month long trip. Matt grabbed his duffle bag and sulked over to join the rest of the crowd of children.

"Matt!" The blonde looked up and saw his younger brother racing up to him. He hugged Matt's legs tightly and nearly caused him to topple over. "Boy am I glad to see you!"

"Hey T.K.," Matt smiled and hugged his brother back quickly before prying away from his touch. "How have you been?"

"I've been great!" he grinned up at his brother. "Wow, you grew a lot."

"Hi there T.K.," Matt's father joined the two brothers. "Are you here by yourself?"

"Um…yeah," the younger blonde blushed. "Mom had to go to a work meeting and so she just dropped me off here and told me to be good."

"Sounds like your mother," Matt heard his father grumble. Then more audible, he added, "Well, looks like you'll be leaving soon. You boys have fun, alright?"

"Will do!" T.K. chirped. Their father looked at the elder blonde, who had said nothing.

"Matt?"

"Whatever," Matt grumbled. He went, took his younger brother's suitcase, and proceeded to the closest bus he could see. He handed the bags over to bus driver and supervised them to make sure they were put in properly.

"Matt?" A voice called out. Matt jumped and looked around. "Matt Ishida?" His eyes fell upon a boy running towards him. He had long brown hair with red tips at the end and wore a huge grin on his face. "Wow! I can't believe it's really you! After all this time!"

"Um…do I know you?" Matt asked awkwardly.

"Oh right," the boy laughed. "You might not have changed that much but I sure have…huh, Mattie?"

"Bobby?" his eyes widened.

"Good memory slick!" Bobby grinned. "Man, I can't believe it's been so long."

"Not long enough," Matt grumbled.

"Good old Mattie," Bobby laughed. "Well, I better get on my own bus. I'll see you around the camp, ok?"

"Whatever," Matt muttered quietly. Bobby patted him on the back and ran off before Matt had a chance to slug him. T.K. cautiously came up to him.

"When did you become such good friends?" T.K. asked.

"We didn't," the elder blonde grumbled.

"That guy still scares me," T.K. admitted shyly. Matt looked over at the boy who was getting on to a separate bus. It was interesting how much the boy had changed, and not just physically. Then again…

"Don't worry T.K.," Matt said. "I'll be sure to take care of you." The younger brother smiled up at him and then went to enter the bus. Matt gave one last look around the parking lot, and then also boarded the bus.

**oXoXoXoXo**

"You did what to who?" Matt gasped. T.K. grinned bashfully and scratched his head.

"His name is Joe," T.K. explained as they walked toward the open field for free time activities. "He's an upper class man and was in my wood working class."

"And you cut off his finger?" Matt asked again.

"No. I _almost _did! There's a difference!" T.K. grinned.

"T.K., you've gotta be more careful when you're dealing with knives."

"It wasn't a knife, it was a saw!"

"Knives, saws, whatever! The point is that you could have really hurt yourself, ok?" Matt said sternly. T.K. opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and lowered his head.

"Ok Matt," he sighed. Matt also sighed and looked around the camp site, unsure of what else to do in "hell."

Only a few hours had gone by and Matt was ready to go home. The camp was intentionally set for four weeks and just like his father had mentioned, it was jam packed with activities. There was a set schedule for the kids and lots of opportunities to interact with one another. Matt was sick of all the phony kids coming up to him and wanting to be his friend. He knew that they didn't mean it…and they could never replace the original friends he once had.

"MATT!" Matt jumped and turned to look where the voice had called to him. A girl in a bright pink dress came running right at him. She wore a bright pink cowboy hat and had a huge smile on her face. The girl threw herself on the blonde and gave him the biggest and tightest hug he could ever remember. "OH MY GOODNESS! I can't believe that you're here! I was just talking to my friend Michelle and Karen over there and they were just talking about the cute guy standing over here. And when I looked I saw you and went 'OH MY GOSH IT'S MATT!' Except I wasn't sure if it was so I got closer! And once I got closer I realized it was you and I got really happy!"

"Mmfh!" Matt grunted. He could hardly breathe. The girl finally let go of him and he hunched over and tried to catch his breath. "Who…are you?" The girl's smile suddenly faded away.

"You mean, you don't remember me?" she blinked. Matt stared at her for a moment. She did seem very familiar…The girl balled her hand into a fist and bopped the boy on the head. "Your queen is not content with the prince's bad memory!" Matt's eyes widened.

"Mimi?" he muttered.

"YAY! You _do _remember!" she cheered and wrapped him in another hug. This time, wasn't as long and Matt was able to get away.

"I can't believe it's really you," Matt smiled.

"I can't believe it's really you either!" Mimi chirped. "Wow, we really gotta catch up! Maybe you could come with me and Michelle and Karen and Rebecca and go canoe racing later! They say that there will be a big race around two or something and that the prize will be something really special!"

"Um…" Matt murmured.

"MIMI!" a voice called out from a distance.

"Oops!" Mimi blushed. "That must be Joe. He wants me to take a turn carrying around the first aid supplies but it's too heavy for me to carry." And with that, the girl in pink started to run off. "I'll see you soon Matt!"

"…bye…" Matt answered quietly. The blonde looked around to see where T.K. might have run off to. Once he spotted him playing in the grass with some other kids, Matt sighed and thought about his re-encounter with the queen. Well…Mimi sure seemed different. She had become more chatty and…girly. The blonde thought back to the younger girl he used to play with and wondered what might have happened.

Suddenly an object came colliding against Matt's leg and, for what seemed like the millionth time today, made him jump. He looked down and saw a black and white soccer ball a few inches away from him. The blonde stared at it for a moment then picked it up and looked around to see where it had come from. A boy that looked about a year younger than him came running up to him.

"Hey, mind giving our ball back?" he asked. Matt slightly glared at the boy and then looked over at the rest of the team. It was a mixture of both boys and girls on the small team of kids playing. There were kids with red hair, long pants, short sleeved shirts, wild bushy hair—wait.

"…Tai?" Matt whispered. There was one boy who had wild brown hair. He wore dark khaki shorts, and a blue shirt with an orange star on both sleeves. "Tai?" His skin was darker than the other children and he lazily looked around the field. "Tai!" Matt found himself running towards the boy. The brunette looked over towards Matt revealed that he wore goggles on his head. His brown eyes blinked curiously at the boy. "Tai!"

"…Hey there," Tai smiled hesitantly at Matt. "How's it going?"

"Great!" Matt smiled widely. "It's been going really great! How about you?"

"I've been doing pretty good," the brunette nodded happily. "Just playing some soccer with some friends…I see you found our ball." Matt felt very happy at that moment. After all this time…he couldn't believe he was standing right in front of Tai! He knew that if he just kept holding on, he'd find him again! The blonde made a mental note to thank his father for forcing him to go to summer camp.

"It's been a really long time, Tai," Matt sighed happily.

"…It has?" Tai asked nervously. The blonde's smile fell slightly.

"Well…yeah," he replied. "I mean…" Matt stared at the boy. He wore a smile and held a friendly attitude, but behind it all, he could see the confusion in his face. "…Tai…don't you…remember me?"

"…Am I supposed to?" he chuckled nervously.

…He didn't remember him. After all of this time, of hoping and dreaming to find his love again…his friend. Suddenly, it felt like a machete came crashing into Matt's chest and twisted it's self repeatedly.

"Hey Tai!" The two boys looked over to a red headed girl. She wore a yellow short sleeved shirt, and a blue hat on her head. "Are you going to stand there flirting or are you gonna get our ball back?"

"I'm not flirting Sora!" Tai grinned at the girl. Sora? Sora was here too? Matt lowered his gaze to the soccer ball he held in his hands. He clutched the ball tightly and wanted nothing more than to cry at that moment. "Hey? Are you gonna cry?" Matt didn't answer him and kept his eyes down. "Come on kid, don't get so bent out of shape just because I don't remember you…I know! How about you come play with us? We could use another player and it'd give us a chance to get to know each other better." Matt looked up at Tai and tried to keep himself looking calm.

"First off," he said. "My name isn't 'kid.' It's Matt; Matt Ishida."

"Matt. Ok."

"Second off, I wouldn't play this dumb game if you paid me a million bucks." Matt threw the ball hard against Tai's chest. The brunette let out a loud "oomph!" as he caught it and then rubbed his chest.

"Ow, ok, fine," his face showed slight pain, which was comforting to Matt. "I get it if you think you're too cool to play with us." Matt gritted his teeth and stared hard at the boy. His gaze turned to Sora for a moment, then back at Tai. Finally, the blonde ran away from the boy and off to the forest. Once he made it into the woods and found a rather private area, Matt slumped down to the ground and stared down at the ground.

"…He doesn't remember me," Matt whispered. A hard lump formed in his throat and he felt his eyes start to water. In desperation to not cry, he pulled out his harmonica and started playing. The more he played, the shakier the notes started to come out. Finally, he pulled the instrument way and wiped away the tears that started to fall down his face.

The blonde looked around to make sure no one saw him and then pulled out the small keychain from his pocket. The silver star glimmered in the sunlight and reminded Matt of a promise. A promise that was broken. He gritted his teeth and lifted his hand to chuck the item as far as he could so that he would never see the stupid thing again. Something held him back though. The more he wanted to throw it out into the forest, the louder a small voice echoed in his head.

"_I promise that as long as you hold on to this, I will remember you and love you." _Matt sighed as he finally lowered his hand and looked down at the keychain again. He rubbed his thumb against the small star and remembered the day that Tai had given it to him. The brunette promised him…he promised that he'd always remember him…Then why didn't he? What could have happened to make him forget him, his prince? Was it Sora? Did they somehow keep in touch and slowly she brained washed him into forgetting him? All this time of waiting…waiting to see him again and go back to how they were…to their fairy tale like state.

'_Maybe fairy tales are just that,' _Matt thought to himself. _'Made up. They can't really happen in real life. They're just some stupid story to make kids believe there are such things as happily ever after's and brave knights and magic and all that other junk.' _ He quickly looked around the area, to make sure no one was around, before he pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his face in his knees. He promised himself that he wouldn't let anyone see him cry, and that was a promise he intended on keeping.

After he let out all of his tears, he continued to sit there, thinking about what to do next. Matt would continually stare down at the small item.

"I can't believe he forgot me," Matt muttered to himself. "After he promised me he wouldn't ever forget…His face looked so confused when I was talking to him it's like I was just some crazy kid to him…Maybe I am just crazy." The blonde rubbed his eyes and sighed. "But what if…he _did _keep his promise? What if somewhere, deep inside of him…he still remembers me?" He looked out into the forest and listened to the wind blow. "Something must have happened to him to make him forget me…But I know I'm still there in his memory." The blonde rubbed his nose one last time and placed the keychain back into his pocket. "He'll get it one day…but until then…I'll just act like I don't know him. Like, we're just barely meeting each other for the first time." He stood, and after making sure he didn't look like he was crying, he exited the forest.

Even though there were still kids all over the place, the camp seemed more peaceful than before. Matt walked past the field and saw where Tai had once been, but saw that no one was there any more. The blonde sighed and decided to look for his younger brother. Suddenly, Matt stop in his tracks.

"Wha?" he gasped. He must have been seeing things. He had to be. There was no possible way that this could have happened. Matt looked up at the sky and blinked. "…Is it really snowing?"

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><p><em>...And so it begins. X3<em>

_Bobby gets a second exit because...well...he just does. ^_^; I don't know...the digidestineds seemed a little OOC in this chapter...but that's just me. ^_^; Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!_


	14. 13: The Missing Chapter

**_NOTE:_**_*drags self in* At...last! After a week of finals, and two(ish) weeks of writers block, I give you: CHAPTER 13! *flops down on the ground* I dead now. -_-_

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><p><strong>Chapter 13. The Missing Chapter<strong>

"And so," Sora continued on. "The young prince lived on pretending like he didn't know his brave knight. Even when they went on another adventure together in a strange land, he pretended he didn't know him. Once they finished that adventure, they continued on as friends, but the knight still didn't remember him." The red haired paused for a moment. "And they lived happily never-after. The end."

"Nice ending," Tai grumbled miserably.

"Well, if you haven't noticed," Sora gestured to the keychain in Tai's hand. "It doesn't end that happy." The brunette sighed and buried his face into his hands.

"Matt," Tai groaned. "Why didn't you tell me?" He then looked up at Sora. "Why didn't he tell me, but was happy enough to tell you? Aren't you supposed to be the wicked witch?"

"It was kind of by accident," Sora sighed. "I walked in on him after one of his band concerts and he was crying. After seeing he was caught, and after I convinced him that it's better to let things out and not keep them bottled up, he told me the whole story." Tai gently rubbed the star keychain with his thumb.

"Tai?" Sora asked, concerned about the brunette's silence.

"I know why I couldn't remember Matt," Tai whispered. "I know where I locked his memories away."

**oXoXoXoXo**

_Tai ran up and down the dark world that surrounded him. The world was filled with scary monsters and evil things trying to hurt them. He had to find Matt before it was too late! The young boy ran faster down the dark path way and finally found the blonde._

_ "Matt!" he called out. The blonde turned to look at him. He smiled at his brave knight and started coming towards him. Suddenly, a black hole appeared from underneath Matt and swallowed him up. "NO!" Tai sprinted forward and tried to save Matt, but it was too late. Matt sank deeper and deeper into the dark, black hole of nothingness…and Tai couldn't do anything but watch._

"NO MATT!" Tai screamed as he shot up from his bed. The young brunette panted and looked around. He wasn't in a dark world anymore; he was in his new bedroom in Odaiba. Kari was in the hospital and so he was completely alone in his room. Tai's bottom lip started to quiver at the memory of his prince disappearing and he climbed out of bed. The small knight made his way to the kitchen, where his mother was waiting for their father to come home from work. "Mommy?"

"Tai?" she looked down at him. "What are you doing out of bed? It's almost midnight."

"I…I…" Tai wanted to explain that he had a bad dream, but he was so close to exploding he couldn't help it. "I MISS MATT!" Tai ran forward and hugged his mother tightly. She picked up her son and tried comforting him as he started to cry uncontrollably.

"Oh Tai," his mother muttered sadly. "I'm sorry that you miss your friend…" She gently rocked him back and forth and allowed him to continue crying, letting all of his tears drain out. Finally, once he was calm enough to listen, she looked down at him and smiled. "Tell you what? How about if you and me take a little trip and go back to visit Matt? Would you like that?" Tai sniffed a little and thought about the offer.

"What about Kari?" he sniffled.

"We will go and visit her tomorrow," she explained. "And then Daddy can watch over her since he doesn't have to work tomorrow, ok?" Tai thought for a little while longer.

"Ok," he finally nodded.

"Don't worry Tai," she kissed her son. "Everything is going to be ok."

**oXoXoXoXo**

The young brunette impatiently walked beside his mother, since he was being held by the hand so he wouldn't run off, as they came closer to the Ishida apartment. Tai was so excited to see Matt again! He would tell him about the new apartment they lived in, the new room he slept in, and how different everything was from this place. Maybe he'd tell him about his scary dream…but he was for sure going to tell him how much he missed him and how much he loved him. Once his mother knocked on the door, they waited for a reply. Matt's mother opened the door.

"Oh, hello Yuuko," she smiled at the visitors. "What brings you here?"

"Hello Nancy," Tai's mother greeted. "Tai and I were just in the neighborhood and Tai wanted to pay a visit to his old friend." Tai smiled up at Matt's mother, excited to see his friend.

"Oh…" Matt's mother muttered. She stayed quiet for a moment, and then sighed. "I'm sorry…but Matt isn't here anymore."

"What?" Tai gasped.

"My hus…Hiroaki and I separated about a month ago and he took Matt with him while T.K. stayed here."

"Oh, I'm sorry Nancy," Tai's mother muttered sadly. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I…I think I'll be alright," she smiled sadly.

"Where did Matt's daddy take him?" Tai shouted at the other woman. "Where is he?"

"Tai, don't shout!" His mother hushed him. "I'm sorry to bother you Nancy. We didn't know—"

"Where is my Matt?" Tai shouted again.

"Tai!"

"WHERE IS HE?"

"I'm afraid that I don't know where Matt is anymore," Matt's mother finally answered the child's question. "After they left…I never heard from them again…" She looked down at the small brunette, who was now coming close to letting out his tears. "I'm sorry Tai…"

Tai's bottom lip quivered and then he quickly darted off. There was one place where he hadn't checked yet. Every time Tai wanted to see him, he'd always be there. _Always; _so why should this time be different? Once the young knight exited out the elevator, he ran right to the small park where they had first met.

"MATT!" he called out as he ran through the park. "MATT! WHERE ARE YOU?" Tai climbed up the jungle gym and started searching through the tunnels and slides. "Please come out now Matt! I want to see you again!" The longer Tai searched, the more it started to seem that Matt would never come out again. The last place he looked was the tunnel where he gave the blonde the promise. He crawled through it and saw that there was no one there. "…he's gone…" Tai started to sniffle and he slowly exited the tunnel.

"Tai!" The brunette didn't look up when his mother called out to him. "There you are! Why did you run off like that?"

"…He's gone Mommy," Tai whimpered and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh Tai," she whispered. "I'm sorry that this happened…" She took her son and carried him back to the car. Tai watched as the place where he and Matt shared so many memories started to vanish from view.

**oXoXoXoXo**

"Tai, will you come here please?" Tai lifted his head up to where his mother was. She was putting away some clean clothing in his dresser and beckoned him to join her. Tai flopped his head back down on the pillow and buried his face. "Tai, please. I want to show you something." He didn't move. "I don't want to see you so sad anymore."

"But I am sad," the brunette muttered (which actually came out more like "Mur-mur urm fur").

"Well, what if I told you I know a way to make you feel better?" Tai lifted his head again. "At least, for a little while…" The small child stared at his mother curiously for a moment, then climbed off the bed and joined her side. "That's the spirit. Ok, let's pretend this is a memory you have." She lifted up one of Tai's underwear she was putting away. "Like, yesterday when we went to the toy store."

"That's when I got the cool racecar!" Tai smiled.

"Right! Now, see this drawer?" She gestured to the dresser which had three drawers on it. Out of the three drawers, she pulled open the first one. "This drawer is like a place where you can save all of your memories."

"My brain has a dresser?" Tai blinked curiously.

"Well…no, but it works like a drawer, ok?"

"Ok…"

"Alright, so the memory of our trip to the toy store can come up here in the first drawer." His mother placed the underwear in the first drawer and closed it. "This drawer is for things that have happened to you recently. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Alright." She then took a sock and showed Tai. "Now, let's say these socks are another memory. Like…when you threw up in Sora's hat." Tai giggled at the memory and his mother gave him a stern, yet also teasing, look. She then opened the second drawer and placed the socks inside. "The second drawer is for memories that you will remember, but you don't have to think about them all the time. Ok?"

"Ok…what about the last one?" Tai's mother closed the second drawer and looked at the third one.

"This third drawer," she explained. "Has a special name. It is called, the bottom drawer."

"What goes in there?"

She finished folding one of Tai's pajama pants and opened the drawer. There were other pajamas in there and he waited to see what his mother would say. Once she placed the clean pajamas in the drawer, she then took it out of the dresser. She let Tai look inside the hole that was left from the dresser. In it, were two mismatching socks, an old underwear Tai used to wear, a pajama top that had gone missing and his racecar that he had misplaced.

"It's my racecar!" Tai grinned and took the racecar back. He watched as his mother took out the clothing that was hidden underneath. "Mommy…I'm confused…What were those things doing there? I thought we put them in the other drawers."

"We did Tai," she grunted as she tried putting the drawer back into its proper place. "But sometimes, we put memories inside the bottom drawer, and sometimes, memories just slip down there." Once she finally placed the drawer back and closed it, she looked at the items they found. "Those memories are the ones that are the hardest to remember for us; the memories that make us really sad, or mad."

"Like when I cut my knee?" Tai muttered.

"Well, no. That's something more that would go in the first drawer," His mother sighed and opened the third drawer once more. "Sometimes, the memories we put in can be remembered easily. Like, when Kari gets sick…" Tai frowned at the memories of her sister getting sick. "Other times, our memories sort of disappear because they fall in father than just our bottom drawer and soon it's almost like we forget them."

"We…forget them?"

"Sometimes…but it's only because we're not ready to deal with them yet." Tai's mother studied her son carefully. "Do you understand Tai?" Tai opened his mouth to say yes, but then closed it.

"No…" he muttered. She sighed and looked her son straight in the eyes. She wanted him to understand so much…but she only felt like she was only confusing him more.

"Tai," she started. "I know that your memory of Matt really makes you sad." She gestured to the racecar when she said the boy's name. Tai frowned and started heading back to his bed. "I wasn't finished yet." Tai looked back at her and watched as she opened the bottom drawer. "I know it hurts you to think about him and to know that you don't know where he is. But maybe, if you don't want to hurt so much, you can put his memory away for a short little while."

"But I promised him I wouldn't ever forget him!" Tai stared wide-eyed at the bottom drawer that was now open. "If I put him away, I'll break my promise!"

"I know sweetie," his mother said, sadness in her voice. "But sometimes…it's ok to just put away some memories that hurt and let them be forgotten. In fact, maybe it's the best thing to do at the time." She took the lost item of clothing and placed them in their proper drawers. "The important thing, however, is that we remember to go back and find those lost memories again. When we feel like we are strong enough, then we can come back and remember them." Tai thought quietly to himself as his mother closed the drawers again. He studied the little racecar in his hands.

"So, you're saying," Tai muttered. "That if I don't want to be sad about Matt right now, then I should put his memories in the bottom drawer…but there might be a chance that I will forget him?" Mother and son stared at each other in silence for a while. "I don't know Mommy…"

"It's your choice," she smiled softly. "I won't make you do anything…Just think about it, ok?"

"Ok, Mommy," Tai murmured. That night, Tai laid awake in his bed, debating on what to do.

On the one hand, he made a promise to his prince that he would never forget him. That if he held on to that small star keychain, he would remember and love him. But on the other hand, knowing that he just suddenly disappeared from his life…

_**'You can't forget Matt!' **_part of him screamed. _**'You just can't!'**_

_'But he's gone!' _the other part screamed back. _'I don't know where he is anymore! He's gone forever and it makes me really sad!'_

_**'But you promised him! Even if you'll never see him again, you promised you wouldn't forget him!'**_

_'I know…but, what if I do what Mommy said and forget for just a little while?'_

_**'No! Please don't forget him!'**_

'_But I won't forget him…I mean…Mommy did say there might be a chance…but I'll come back and remember him again when I'm stronger.'_

_**How will you remember?'**_

_'I…I'm not sure…' _Tai climbed out of bed and walked over to his dresser. On the dresser, stood Tai's little racecar. He took hold of the racecar, hugged it gently, and then opened the third drawer of the dresser. He placed the car inside and stared at it a moment.

"I'll remember you Matt," Tai whispered sadly. "Just not right now…but one day, I'll be big and strong and then I will be able to remember you without feeling so sad." He slowly started closing the bottom drawer. "I promise." Tai shut the drawer completely. As soon as it was closed, a loud "clunk" echoed throughout Tai's room, and that was it.

**oXoXoXoXo**

"You forced yourself to forget Matt then," Sora muttered.

"I guess so," Tai shrugged. "I mean…it killed me to know he was gone and so I wanted to run away from my pain…at least until I was older…but I had run away from it for so long, that when Matt came up to me during summer camp…I couldn't even remember him…" The brunette looked down at the silver star that once belonged to his prince.

'_**You were right kid,' **_Tai thought to himself. _**'I did forget him.'**_

'_But you remember now right?' _The younger version of him asked in his head.

'_**Yes…I remember.'**_

'_So…is it ok to open the drawer now? Are we strong enough?'_

'…_**yes.' **_ Suddenly, it felt like a door had been open and Tai started to remember everything. How he first met Matt and protected him from Bobby. The day they were married and had their "bunny moon." The day he found out that Matt had disappeared after they had moved. Finally, the blue eyes that Tai continually saw in his mind, started to show a face. It was the face of a little blonde boy with his nose pressed against the window of a large van, before driving away. It was the last memory Tai had of his beloved prince.

"Tai, you're crying," Sora spoke up. Tai's head shot up and he lifted a hand to touch his cheek. Sure enough, his cheeks were indeed wet.

"…H-Ha ha!" the brunette laughed and tried to wipe away the flowing tears. "Must have g-gotten something in my eyes…" Tai glanced up at Sora and tried to offer a smile. She smiled sadly at him when she saw the boy's bottom lip start to quiver. Tai lowered his gaze back down to the keychain. His promise echoed loudly in his ears and he dropped the keychain to the ground before burying his face in his hands. "I broke my promise to him! How could I have been so stupid?" Sora placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder as he continued to cry silently to himself.

"You…really do love him…don't you?" she muttered. Tai lifted his face slowly from his hands. He thought back to all the time they had spent together; as children, in the digital world, and even before now. Matt had always been there for him…and he knew he would always be there for him too.

"…Yes," Tai whispered. "I do." He glared down at his hands. "Why didn't he tell me any of this himself?" The question was more meant for himself, but Sora happened to have heard it. The red head smiled and bent down to pick up the star keychain.

"Well there's only one way to find out for yourself," she held the keychain in front of Tai. He stared at the small object and took it in his hands. "I believe you've got a train to catch, Tai Kamiya." Tai stared down at the star, wiped away his final tears and smiled up at the girl.

"Thanks Sora," he said. He quickly got up to his feet and started running. Before he exited the park, he stopped and turned back to the red head. "You know, Matt was wrong about you."

"What?" she called back.

"I said, 'Matt was wrong about you'!" Tai shouted back.

"How so?"

"Because, you're not really a wicked witch…You're a good witch."

"Ha ha, thanks Tai! Now go on and save your prince before I turn you into a toad!" The brave knight gave the good witch a thumbs up, and then ran as fast as he could to save his long forgotten prince.

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><p><em>Even though I like how the ending bit turned out...this chapter...my goodness...<em>

_If anyone is confused about the bottom drawer bit...let me know. I'll try my best to explain it. ^_^; Other than that, please review and let me know what you think. I go now...*flops down on the ground and sleeps*_

_OH! P.S.! In case you haven't already: go read southampton's stories called "Music" and "Time"! They are phenomenal! _


	15. 14: A Second Chance

**_NOTE:_**_ My laptop, which stopped working for a while, is now up and running again. :) Which means, I'm able to write again. Woot!_

_Here it is! The final chapter to "Untold Story!" I would like to quickly thank those who have reviewed this story, those who would put it into their alert notices/faves, and those who simply read it for kicks and giggles. You guys are what keep me writing, so thank you. :D_

_Buckle your seat belts kiddies! Because I present to you, the final chapter!  
><em>

**_WARNING:_**_ This is the final chapter._

**_DISCLAIMER:_**_ I do not own Digimon... T^T_

_**DEDICATION: **This story is to anyone who has ever felt like they will never reach their own happily ever after. I want you to know that I feel for you all and I want you guys to not give up quite yet. Just keep on hoping, and you'll soon reach it. :)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 14. A Second Chance<strong>

Tai's chest heaved heavily up and down as he finally burst through the doors of the train station. He looked around wildly, trying to find the blonde. The train station was filled with a mixture of people coming out of their arriving trains and hurrying off to board the last trains. Tai raced over to the ticket booth and slammed both of his hands on the table, making the worker jump.

"Please…Last train…Airport!" Tai panted. The worker gave him a bewildered stare and said nothing.

"_Final call for the last train to the Tokyo Airport; platform six,_"a voice over the intercom rang out.

"Thank you!" Tai waved to the worker, though they were actually no help at all. Tai ran down the train station, looking for platform six.

…Platform one…

_'Don't board the train, Matt!' _Tai begged in his mind as he zoomed past the first platform and successfully dodged the train passengers running about. _'I'm coming!'_

…Platform two…

Tai glanced down at the star keychain he held in his hands and held it even tighter.

'_I remember everything! Just don't get on! Please, please, please!'_

_ …_Platform three…

…Platform four…

Around that platform, a large amount of people were disembarking the train. Tai pushed through various people and tried to keep up with his momentum. Suddenly, someone roughly bumped into him, causing the brunette to stumble…and let go of the keychain.

"No!" he gasped loudly as went flying out of his hands and hit the floor. He tried desperately to dive down and pick it up again, but there were stronger forces working against his wishes. People pushed Tai along through the crowd while various feet kicked the silver star farther and farther away from him. By the time Tai forced himself out of the crowd, the star was gone.

_'I…I lost the star!' _Tai cried in his head, as his fingers grip his wild brown hair in panic. _'I lost it…my promise to Matt…I have to find it!' _His eyes frantically scanned the floor to find the small item, but it was already swallowed up by the crowd. A train whistle blew from a distance and caused Tai to remember why he was here in the first place. Torn between finding the small item of promise, and continuing his quest, Tai scanned the floor one last time and then continued running.

…Platform five…

_'I lost it Matt…and I broke your promise…I'm so sorry…but please don't leave!'_

_ …_Platform six.

"MATT!" Tai cried out. He stopped and looked around, frantically searching for the blonde. "MATT! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"ALL ABOARD!" a conductor hollered. With a sharp turn to his left, he saw the conductor helping a young blonde male quickly board the train. It was Matt! It had to be Matt! His heart dropped to his stomach as he then watched the train conductor pull up the boarding stairs and close the door. "NO! MATT! WAIT!" A train whistle blew over the brunette's pleas and cries.

Tai raced over to the train and started searching for the blonde. He ran up and down the train a couple of times, trying to find a hint of blonde in the train cars. Without success, Tai stopped to catch his breath. All of this running was starting to tire him, but he knew he couldn't stop until he found and stopped Matt.

Tai looked up and caught a glimpse of a small boy with his face pressed against the window. He looked about six or seven, had jet black hair and bright green eyes. The train whistle blew a few times more, and slowly the train started to move. Tai's heart sank in defeat as it slowly starting moving away from him. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blonde. His head snapped up and he saw the blonde sitting in front of the child he had seen. The young boy smiled up at the blonde person, then went back to staring at Tai.

"…H-hey!" Tai called out to the boy. The train started picking up speed and Tai followed it. "Hey! Stop the train!" Tai waved at the boy, trying to motion him to stop. The boy tilted his head to one side, smiled and started to wave back. "No! Not hello! Stop the train!" Tai was now at a light run and he was nearly losing sight of the boy. "_Stop the train!_" He waved both arms above his head and continued running. The little boy turned and pointed out the window. An older man and woman's face showed up at the window and watched Tai. After a moment, they too started waving. The brunette was losing patience and ground…fast. "STOP THE—"

Tai's foot hit a crack on the marble floor and he slammed hard against the ground. He gritted his teeth in pain and lifted his head to see the train. It was now at full speed and leaving the station. The last thing Tai saw of the family in the train, was the blonde finally looking out the window…but it was too late for him to see anything.

"…no…" Tai whispered. He slowly lifted himself up to a kneeling position and watched the train roll off. Finally, the little red caboose finally left the station and was now disappearing into the distance.

He was gone. He had come too late to stop Matt from leaving. Now, Matt was on his way to England, and probably to never see Tai again. Had he run a little faster…or not taken so long in trying to look for the keychain—

"The keychain!" Tai looked down at his empty hands and then slammed them on the station ground. The small reminder of his promise to the blonde was gone.

Any trace or anything to hold memory of Matt Ishida was now taken away from Tai.

The brunette slowly stood and walked away from the station and out of the train yard. He had no clue where he was headed; he just let his feet do the walking. Finally, he found himself back at the very playground where everything had taken place. Tai sighed as he flopped his tired, beaten body down on the seat of a swing and rested his chin on his hands. It seemed like only yesterday that he, Matt and Mimi were running around the area, looking for pirates to battle and treasure to dig up. And now…

"…He's gone…" Tai whispered. The memory of Tai standing alone in the playground, after finally realizing Matt was truly gone, hit him hard at that moment. The brunette covered his face with his hands and tried hard not to start crying.

"…I think you lost this." Tai quickly lifted his head and stared at the person who had spoken. A tall blonde with bright sapphire eyes stood next to Tai and was holding out a silver star keychain. Tai stared at the boy and slowly stood up.

"…Matt?" he barely whispered. Matt smiled at the brunette and nodded. Tai stared at him a moment longer, then suddenly balled up his fist and hit the blonde with a rather powerful right hook. Matt fell to the ground and clutched his jaw.

"Ow!" Matt glared up at the brunette now standing over him. "What was that for you—" Tai quickly got down on the ground and hugged Matt. He held the other boy tightly against his body, never wanting to let go of him again.

"I can't believe it…" Tai murmured. Matt slowly returned the affection and hugged Tai just as tightly as he was being held. Finally, the two pulled back from their long embrace. The brunette helped the other boy up from the ground, but held on to his hand once he was up. It was childish, but he feared that if he let him go, that he would disappear once again. "I thought you were leaving."

"I thought I was too," Matt chuckled softly. Tai led Matt to sit down on a swing, and then sat himself down on the swing beside it. Matt looked down at their entwined hands and blushed. "Tai…you can let go now…I'm fine."

"What happened? What made you stop?" Tai asked, ignoring what the blonde said.

"What made you remember?" Matt countered with his own question. They sat in silence for a while, neither answering the questions being asked.

"Sora told me everything," Tai finally said. Matt's eyes went wide and then his face turned into a mixture of frustration and sadness. "Please don't get mad at her though."

"But she promised me she wouldn't say anything," Matt grumbled.

"So you would much rather have me sitting here wondering why the heck my best friend had kissed me and ran off without so much as an explanation?" The blonde opened his mouth and then closed it again. "…why didn't you tell me?"

"…because of the same reason why I didn't leave," Matt stared. "I was hoping for some epic…fairy tale like ending…I kind of fibbed when I said I was leaving tonight. I mean, I was thinking of leaving, but not right away…When I was waiting at the station, I met this little boy. He was lost and I helped him find his parents. They were so grateful that I helped their son that they offered me a free ticket to the last train headed to the airport.

"Right when I was about to take it and leave…a little voice popped into my head. It asked me why I would…um…leave my brave knight behind without giving him a chance to fight the bad guys." Matt nervously glanced up at Tai, who was simply smiling. "I know, it probably sounds stupid…"

"Nah," Tai chuckled, remembering his own little voice talking to him. "I think I can safely say that I've had a similar experience." Matt smiled. "So what then?"

"Well, I told the family that I was grateful for the offer, but that I would wait around. They understood and went to get a refund for the ticket or see if someone else needed it at the ticket office. After they left, I sort of hung around and waited…for you I guess.

"Right as the passengers were starting to board the final train, nature called." Matt's face suddenly got a little angry. "The stupid train station only has one bathroom at every ten platforms…I had to go down all the way down by platform four. So once I do my thing and exit the bathroom, a little shiny object caught my eye." Matt bent down to pick up the keychain that had been dropped when Tai punched him. He held up the small item in front of Tai. The brunette grinned happily at the sight of the small object and then frowned slightly.

"How do you know it's the right one?" he asked. Matt toyed with the star for a moment.

"Tai, I've been carrying around this little keychain for the past thirteen years…I think I would know the difference." Tai felt a twinge of guilt when he heard how long Matt had held on to the small item. "I was really confused to how it got here though, because I remembered that I gave it to you. That's when I saw you walking away. I tried calling out to you but you didn't really respond. So I just sort of followed you here." Tai nodded slowly and Matt's smile soon faded away.

"What's wrong?" Tai asked.

"…I just…" Matt murmured, then shook his head.

"What? Tell me," the brunette asked again. Matt looked down at the ground.

"…I just feel kind of stupid for not telling you everything," Matt finally said. "I mean…I should have been the one to tell you all of this, not Sora."

"It certainly would have saved the muscle soreness I'll be feeling in the morning," Tai joked. Matt's face looked even more upset now. "Hey, come on Matt. I remember now."

"Yeah…but I was just kind of hoping you'd remember some other way and then you'd come storming through the train station, sweep me off my feet and carry me off to our happily ever after." The corner of Tai's lip turned upwards into a smile. "Don't laugh ok? I seriously thought that would happen!"

"Sorry Matt," Tai did his best to keep a straight face. "It's just…I never really was the type to wait around for something to happen. I'm usually the one who makes it happen. I mean, if I had waited around this playground and never gone after you, you'd probably be on your way to the airport right now."

"I guess you're right," Matt hung his head slightly. "And I guess I was right after all…happily ever afters and fairy tale endings don't really happen."

"Hey, cut the mellow-drama," Tai gave the blonde's hand a tight squeeze. "Ok, so maybe I needed a huge reminder to what was going on between us, and maybe I didn't do all of that other stuff…besides the 'barging-through-the-train-station' thing…But look around!" Tai used his free hand and gestured to the whole space in front of them. "We're sitting here right back where we first met; the sun has gone down and is making the sky some weird purplely-pink color…And we're here together."

"I guess," Matt looked around the scenery, though obviously not completely convinced. The brunette let out a soft sigh and looked up at the sky. The chirping of crickets sounded throughout the summer air as the two boys sat on the swings and held hands.

"…You remember that time in the Digital world where you went kind of crazy and wanted to like destroy me or something?" Tai asked quietly.

"Don't remind me," Matt groaned and tried to pull his hand away. Tai held on to it however.

"You left afterwards," Tai stated.

"I know."

"And you didn't come back until the very end."

"I know, Tai."

"I thought I was done for."

"Ok Tai! I get it!"

"No, you don't." Before Matt could say anything else, Tai used his free hand and covered his mouth. "Matt, if you don't think this moment is 'fairy-tale' enough for you, then let me speak, ok?" The blonde gave him a suspicious look, but then nodded. Tai dropped his hand and took a moment to find his train of thought again. "I…I think I already remembered you."

"Huh?" Matt blinked.

"Yeah…I think so…" Tai nodded. "When you wanted to fight me, I got really angry and tried to teach you a lesson. But once we figured out why we were called to be the digidestined and I tried to patch things up…you decided to leave."

"I can't tell you how horrible it felt to watch you walk off. It was almost like a part of me was walking off too. While you were gone, I couldn't think straight. I knew we had to defeat evil Digimon, but you were always on my mind. Things only seemed to get worse after that. Kari got sick, we got separated even more, and Piedmon almost destroyed both Wargreymon and I. I almost gave up completely. But then I saw you coming back, and I immediately got the strength to keep going." Tai smiled at the blonde. "Maybe I did forget the detailed memories we shared when we were younger…but I guess the feelings never really slipped through to the bottom drawer after all."

"What?" Matt blinked in confusion.

"…Um…long story," Tai chuckled nervously once he realized Matt never heard the "bottom-drawer" theory. "The point is Matt…I don't think I completely forgot you after all. I mean, when Joe and Mimi decided to stay behind, it didn't affect me _as _much as it did when you left…It really upset me to see you go and I was so happy when you came back…I guess you left a scar too deep in my soul to completely forget you." The blonde looked into the brunette's dark caramel eyes. "Is that…fairy-tale enough for you?" Matt thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded slowly. Tai also smiled and gave the blonde's hand a gentle squeeze.

"…I feel like I should be apologizing now," Matt murmured and his face suddenly turned solemn. It was Tai's turn to feel confused.

"What for?" he questioned.

"I don't know," Matt shrugged. "For leaving a scar…"

"…I just came up with probably one of the sappiest confessions known to mankind and you're apologizing for it?" Tai jokingly scoffed. Matt opened his mouth slightly to let out a laugh, then cringed in pain and clutched his left cheek.

"Man, you sure know how to punch," the blonde grumbled. "I don't remember you ever hitting _that _hard…"

"Sorry," Tai laugh quietly. He gently removed the blonde's hand so that he could inspect it. Matt tried removing his hand from Tai's, but the brunette refused to let it go.

"This would be easier if you didn't keep on holding my hand you know," Matt said to him.

"I don't want to risk it," Tai replied.

"Risk what?" Matt asked. The other boy stayed quiet for a moment. "Risk what, Tai?"

"…risk losing you again," he finally muttered. "It sounds stupid and kind of childish but I feel like…if I let go, something will come and take you away again." Tai could feel his face heat up a little, so he tried to change the subject as quickly as possible. "Oh wow…it's starting to turn purple…You bruise like a peach, did you know that?"

"Ha ha…very funny," Matt rolled his eyes. Tai carefully stroked the bruising area. Then he leaned forward and as gently as he could, kissed Matt on the cheek. Had he not felt the sudden warmth on the pale boy's face, Tai might not have believed that he had kissed him at all. Slowly Tai looked up at Matt to see if he was alright. Besides looking a little flustered, he looked content. The brunette smiled slightly and then he looked out into the sky, which was now turning to a light navy blue color. They slowly started to swing a little, though not enough to remove their hands from one another.

"Tai?" Matt said, almost in a whisper.

"Hm?" Tai answered.

"What do we do now?" the blue eyed boy asked. Tai looked at him and saw that his eyes rested on their hands. "I mean…are we a couple now? Or…"

"Um…I wouldn't really say a couple," Tai replied nervously. "I mean…for a long time, I thought I was straight."

"Oh, right," Matt mumbled, once again starting to take his hand away from Tai's. The brunette held on tightly to the pale hand.

"That doesn't mean things can change though," Tai continued. "I think I'd be ok with starting to date you though."

"Isn't that the same thing though?"

"No, not by my book. To me, going out on dates is when you're willing to try and get to know someone better and becoming a couple is when you think there is a good chance that it will work out."

"Oh…wow, that's pretty deep coming from Mr. Soccer-Star."

"Hey!" The two teens laughed together. Matt lifted their entwined hands.

"Do you think it will work between us, Tai?" he asked. Tai smiled, remembering how Matt had asked that same question earlier in the evening.

"You know what, Matt?" Tai kissed Matt's pale hand. "I hope so…I really do hope so." Tai looked into Matt's soft blue eyes for a moment before he slowly leaned forward again. This time, his lips touched the other boy's lips.

The brunette, as childish as it sounded to him, felt his heart suddenly get really, really happy from their kiss. The kiss wasn't a quick peck, nor did it become deeply passionate. It was a sweet and gentle kiss that would create envy to any fairy tale princess. Not too long, not too short. It was just right. They broke the kiss and then shyly smiled at each other.

"It, um…it looks like it's getting late," Tai said, still feeling overly happy from the kiss.

"Yeah, I guess so," Matt sighed. They both stood and took a look around the playground once more.

"You know," Tai frowned. "It's going to be pretty hard to date you when you move to England." Matt glanced over at Tai, and then looked back at the tunnel where they used to play. Then, he turned his face up towards the sky.

"…Send my apologies to the Queen," Matt said to the air. "Because I think I'll be accepting that scholarship after all."

"Really?" Tai perked up like a happy little prairie dog. "You're going to stay?"

"I think Japan would miss me too much," Matt shrugged.

"WOO-HOO!" Tai cheered. He hugged Matt, picked him up and spun around in a circle a couple of times. Matt laughed and held on to him tightly. Tai set him down once again and held on to his waist while Matt had his arms around Tai's neck.

"Some ending huh?" Matt joked. Tai opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it.

'_**Pick him up!' **_the little childish Tai commanded in his mind.

'_You don't have to tell me twice,' _Tai replied in his mind. He grinned from ear to ear as he then swept Matt off his feet and held him bridal style.

"WHOA! TAI!" Matt yipped and held on to the tan boy's neck. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"I don't think so," Tai grinned and started to walk off.

"Put me down!" Matt whimpered.

"You wanted a fairy tale ending," Tai smirked.

"I wasn't expecting this though!"

"Stop struggling and just enjoy the fact that I'm being a sap for you."

"Put me down!" Tai stopped walking and looked down at the panicked blonde.

"If you don't stop struggling," Tai said warningly. "I'll purposely drop you on your butt."

"…you wouldn't," Matt challenged. Tai dropped his hands slightly, causing Matt to let out a small yip and to cling on to his neck even tighter. The brunette quickly got a hold of the blonde's body.

"Believe me now?" he smirked. Matt stared at the brunette, then nodded. Tai chuckled and kissed the blonde on the cheek. "Good. Now, be a good prince and let your brave knight carry you off into the sun…erm…twilight." Matt looked up at Tai and then smiled.

"Whatever you say," he chuckled before nuzzling closer to the brunette. Without another word, the brave knight carried his beloved prince off into the twilight; completing their untold story.

And they lived happily ever after.

**_The End._**

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><p><em>KWAAAA! I really really like how it ended! XD<br>_

_Thanks so much for joining Tai and Matt on this crazy ride! I hope to hear from you all in the future._

_So until next time! *blows kiss* Good night everybody!  
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